Union Saint-Gilloise goalkeeper and captain Anthony Moris will not be present with his teammates to face Frankfurt at 6:45 p.m. Heinz Lindner will take his place in goal for the first leg of the Conference League at Lotto Park in Anderlecht.
Ahead of Lindner, coach Alexander Blessin reintegrated Christian Burgess into his central defensive trio. Rested against Westerlo, the Englishman will take on the role of captain left vacant by Moris, and will be lined up alongside Koki Machida and Kevin Mac Allister.
Alessio Castro-Montes on the right and Loïc Lapoussin on the left will play the pistons, around Mathias Rasmussen and Charles Vanhoutte in the axis. Cameron Puertas will be at the forefront of the Union midfield.
Blessin reiterates his confidence in his offensive duo Gustaf Nilsson-Mohamed Amoura. Still injured in the knee, Kevin Rodriguez cannot compete with the Swede and it is Denis Eckert Ayensa who will take his place on the bench.
The Union will only present with six substitutes: goalkeeper Joachim Imbrechts, Ross Sykes, Nathan Huygevelde, Henok Teklab, Casper Tehro and Denis Eckert. Noah Sadiki is suspended, Fedde Leysen has shoulder problems. Jean-Thierry Lazare has not yet returned after winning the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.
On the Frankfurt side, goalkeeper Kevin Trapp is present in the starting eleven after being slightly injured last weekend, as is striker Omar Marmoush.
Former Antwerp players Aurelio Buta and Willian Pacho are lined up in the Eintracht defense as is former Standard Niels Nkounkou. In front, Sasa Kalajdzic was preferred to Hugo Ekitike. Both players arrived during the winter transfer window
– The essays –
Union: Lindner; Mac Allister, Machida, Burgess (cap); Castro-Montes, Rasmussen, Vanhoutte, Lapoussin; Doors; Nilsson, Lover.
Frankfurt: Trapp (cap.); Tuta, Koch, Pacho; Buta, Shkiri, Götze, Nkounkou; Chaibi; Kalajdzic, Marmoush.