Hoffenheim moved a step closer to securing their top-flight status with a big win over faltering Eintracht Frankfurt. Christoph Baumgartner scored just eight minutes in, before Andrej Kramaric and Ihlas Bebou got in on the act at the end of an eventful half. Stanley Nsoki's red card soon after the restart gave Frankfurt hope, with Mario Götze duly reducing the arrears. Oliver Baumann kept Randal Kolo Muani and Rafael Borre at bay, though, leaving Frankfurt five points adrift of the top six and Hoffenheim four above the drop zone.

Baumann (c) - Kabak, Brooks, Nsoki - Bebou, Geiger, Prömel, Angelino - Kramaric - Baumgartner, Dabbur

Philipp, Bicakcic, Stiller, Rudy, Becker, Bischof, Tohumcu, Dolberg, Skov

Trapp - Toure, Hasebe, Ndicka - Buta, Kamada, Sow (c), Lenz - Lindstrom, Götze - Kolo Muani

Ramaj, Gebuhr, Alidou, Chandler, Ebimbe, Wenig, Aaronson, Borre, Knauff

Hoffenheim have followed a run of three wins on the bounce with three games without a victory. They did battle to a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich and were edged 1-0 by RB Leipzig in those, so they will be hopeful given their spirited showings of arresting the slide in form at the right time to ease their relegation fears.

The big question for the visitors will be how much momentum they can take from reaching the DFB Cup final with victory over Stuttgart in midweek. With no league wins in nine and five successive Bundesliga away defeats, they badly need the injection of confidence the cup win should provide.

Baumann (c) - Kabak, Brooks, Bicakcic - Skov, Geiger, Angelino - Kramaric, Baumgartner - Dabbur, Bebou

Akpoguma (suspended), Che (groin), Kaderabek (muscular), Vogt (knee)

Trapp (c) - Toure, Hasebe, Ndicka - Buta, Sow, Dina Ebimbe, Lenz - Kamada, Götze - Kolo Muani

Jakic (calf), Max (thigh), Smolcic (knee), Tuta (shoulder)

The Croatian international is set to make his 250th competitive appearance for Hoffenheim. That will make him the foreigner with the most ever appearances for the club, and places him third on the all-time list behind Oliver Baumann and Sebastian Rudy.

Despite Andrej Kramaric's memorable free-kick in a recent 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim have scored the fewest set-piece goals in the Bundesliga this season (7).

Each game from now to the end of the season is crucial for Hoffenheim, positioned as they are just two points ahead of the second automatic relegation spot. They took just one point in total from their remaining four opponents in the first half of the season, so will definitely hope for more this time.

Silky Frankfurt midfielder Mario Götze has finished in the top five in every single one of 13 previous Bundesliga seasons. It would be a tall ask for his club to continue that record, but they can still aim to extend his run of always qualifying for Europe.

The Eagles have lost just one of their past 11 meetings with Hoffenheim, taking seven wins in that spell. The loss did come on their last visit to the PreZero Arena though, a 2-3 defeat in December 2021.

Eintracht found the tonic to a run of nine games without a win in the Bundesliga by reaching the DFB Cup final in midweek with a 3-2 win at Stuttgart. They have more points already this Bundesliga season (43) than what they had at the end of last season (42).

Here you can find all the information about TSG Hoffenheim against Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday 31.