Eintracht Frankfurt were relegated the last time the two sides met on the final day of Borussia Dortmund's 2010-11 title-winning season.
Eintracht Frankfurt were relegated the last time the two sides met on the final day of Borussia Dortmund's 2010-11 title-winning season.

EAGLES SET TO SOAR AGAINST CHAMPIONS

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Frankfurt - Eintracht Frankfurt's Bundesliga credentials face arguably their sternest examination to date with the Matchday 5 visit of champions Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night (kick-off 20:00 CEST).

Eagles have landed

Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 1899 Hoffenheim, Hamburger SV and 1. FC Nuremberg have all fallen prey to the Eagles' soaring Bundesliga return, with Armin Veh's side's blistering efforts only topped, on goal difference it should be added, by league leaders FC Bayern Munich.

The element of surprise has certainly helped Eintracht's efforts, but perhaps of greater significance is the fact that Veh has had the luxury of fielding the same starting eleven in all four Bundesliga outings this season.

A first-round German Cup exit at the hands of Erzgebirge Aue was clearly just a blip, seeing how Frankfurt have now set the record for the most consecutive wins for a promoted club. Japanese star Takashi Inui has played his part, so far scoring twice and providing two assists in his debut Bundesliga season.

Ground to make up


While Frankfurt were busy breaking records with their fourth-consecutive Bundesliga win, Dortmund's 31-match unbeaten run came grinding to a halt against Hamburg, who saw to it themselves that their own 36-game undefeated record, set back in January 1982-83, remained intact thanks to a surprise 3-2 win on Matchday 4.

Even at this nascent stage of the campaign, Jürgen Klopp's side trail Bayern by a rather hefty five points, but at least they have time on their side in a bid to close the gap at the top ahead of their December showdown with the Bavarian pacesetters.

Twist and shake


In an added twist, Frankfurt's last defeat in the Bundesliga came at the hands of Dortmund on the final day of the 2010-11 season, and Veh's hand has been forced somewhat this time around by injuries to Pirmin Schwegler and Olivier Occean, although the Eintracht coach appears to have a pair of ready-made replacements in Martin Lanig and Erwin Hoffer, who scored at the weekend.

Dortmund's Ivan Perisic, meanwhile, will be hoping his two-goal salvo in the Saturday loss at Hamburg's Impuls Arena is enough to get him a place in the starting eleven, possibly at the expense of Jakub Blaszczykowski, with the domestic double winners out to avoid back-to-back defeats last seen in September 2011.

Possible starting line-ups:

Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp - Jung, Zambrano, Bamba, Oczipka- Lanig, Rode, Aigner, Meier, Inui - Hoffer

Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller - Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer - Gündogan, Kehl, Perisic (Blaszczykowski), Götze, Reus - Lewandowski

Christopher Mayer-Lodge