All to Play for in Milan

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The round of 16 in the Europa League produced some cracking ties and one of the biggest is between Inter Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt.  The teams meet for the second leg of their tie on Thursday night in the San Siro, with the winner progressing to the quarter-final.

The first leg ended 0-0 in Germany and while Inter Milan will be happy with the draw, they failed to score an away goal and will need to be wary.  Eintracht Frankfurt would like to have had an advantage going into this leg but the clean sheet could prove beneficial.  There is all to play for in this tie.

Inter recorded a 2-0 home win over SPAL in Serie A on the weekend and remain on course to finish in the top four this season and qualify for the Champions League.  It was their first win in four games and a much needed boost ahead of this match.

The Italian giants started their campaign in the Champions League but having been drawn in a tough group, they dropped into the Europa League.  Trends show Inter Milan have won two and drawn one of their three Europa League matches this season, with their only home game ending in a 4-0 victory over Rapid Vienna.

Overall form in the Europa League shows just two defeats in their last sixteen games at the San Siro but they have lost two of their last five on home soil.

Eintracht Frankfurt enjoyed a comprehensive 3-0 win at Fortuna Dusseldorf in the Bundesliga on Monday night.  The victory keeps them within touching distance of the Champions League places this season.

The win on Monday means Eintracht Frankfurt have remained undefeated in their last eleven games in all competitions.  They have won four of their last five, with the only draw coming in the first leg of this tie against Inter Milan.

Trends show Eintracht Frankfurt are undefeated in their last thirteen Europa League matches, with nine of those games coming this season. They have won seven of their nine Europa League matches in this campaign and won three and drawn one of their four on the road.

All four of their away results in the competition this season, including the 2-2 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk in the previous round would be good enough to send them through in this tie.

Team news and Inter Milan are without Kwadwo Asamoah and Lautaro Martinez due to suspension and they have doubts over Radja Nainggolan, Miranda and Marcelo Brozovic.  Keita may come in up-front with the continued absence of Mauro Icardi.

Eintracht Frankfurt have a suspension of their own and Gelson Fernandes will miss out.  Lucas Torro is injured and there are doubts over the fitness of Ante Rebic, Timothy Chandler and David Abraham.

This has the makings of a very close game but as the home team, Inter Milan must be considered favourites to progress but may need to score a couple of goals if they fail to keep a clean sheet.