5 reasons RB Leipzig will beat Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022/23 DFB Cup final
RB Leipzig are one win from lifting a second successive DFB Cup. bundesliga.com has five reasons why the holders - spearheaded by the great Christopher Nkunku - will get the job done in Saturday's final against Eintracht Frankfurt...
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1) Cup specialists
Leipzig have contested four of the last five DFB Cup finals, with this season's edition marking their third in a row. Indeed, you have to go all the way back to the 2020/21 showpiece against Borussia Dortmund for their last defeat in the competition. Since then, it's been 10 wins, plus last term's final triumph over Freiburg on penalties.
2) Leipzig superior in all departments
Leipzig finished third in the recently ended Bundesliga season, only five points behind the top two, but 16 better off than seventh-placed Frankfurt. They outscored the Eagles (64 to 58), shipped fewer goals (41 to 52), fired off more shots (509 to 414) and gave fewer away (325 to 367). See what we're getting at?
3) Nkunku on fire
Despite missing a chunk of the Rückrunde through injury, Nkunku still finished the campaign as the Bundesliga's 16-goal top scorer, sharing the Torjägerkanone with Werder Bremen striker Niclas Füllkrug. The Leipzig talisman has rediscovered his world-beating form at just the right time, producing four goals and three assists across his last five league outings alone - including a pressure-cooker penalty away to champions Bayern Munich.
Watch: All Christopher Nkunku's Bundesliga goals in 2022/23
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4) Leipzig on song
Like Nkunku, Leipzig are enjoying a real purple patch. Die Roten Bullen have recorded nine wins in their last 10 competitive fixtures, accounting for the likes of Bayern and Bundesliga runners-up Dortmund in that time. Frankfurt also came up short against the DFB Cup holders on Bundesliga Matchday 22, even though Leipzig were missing Nkunku and playmaker Dani Olmo.
5) Rose's Frankfurt hoodoo
That's perhaps no surprise, given Marco Rose's knack of taking down Frankfurt. The Leipzig boss lost his first encounter with Eintracht as a Mainz player, but is unbeaten in 11 since (W7, D4). His record as a coach against the 2017/18 DFB Cup winners is better still: W6, D1.
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