THIS Group F opener would have been a repeat of last season's Europa League Final had Frankfurt held their nerve in a penalty shootout with Chelsea.
Instead it was the Blues who triumphed 4-3 in the semi-final shoot-out and bounced on to Baku where they outclassed the Gunners to get their hands on yet another trophy.
That 4-1 triumph, with Eden Hazard running the show in his final game for Chelsea, exposed just how weak Arsenal were at the back and it's a problem that clearly hasn't been remedied.
When you think David Luiz will be the answer to your defensive troubles then you are in deep trouble and it looks like Unai Emery's side will ship goals aplenty in this campaign too.
They began the season by keeping a clean sheet at Newcastle but Arsenal have conceded in every game since then and reached a nadir with their shambolic weekend display at Watford.
They looked to be coasting to victory after romping into a two-goal lead but a slapstick goal-kick routine gifted Watford a goal before Luiz conceded the penalty that led to the leveller.
Emery's side were lucky to escape with a 2-2 draw after a hopeless second-half display with defensive midfielder Matteo Guendouzi offering as much protection as a chocolate fireguard.
If the Gunners persist in playing out from the back in the same manner at Frankfurt then they could be heavily punished again so I'd snap up the 11/5 Bet365 offer on a home win.
It's a testament to Arsenal's firepower that they managed to reach last season's final with such a dodgy defence and Emery will have to hope that his side can outgun the Germans.
It's no surprise to see both teams to score as short as 6/10 with Betfair so I'll be backing over 3.5 goals at 39/20 with Unibet to get a bit more value.
Frankfurt have more match practice than the Gunners, having seen off Flora Tallin, Vaduz and Strasbourg in qualifiers to reach the Europa League groups.
Their Bundesliga form has been mixed, losing two and winning two of their opening four games, and it's clear they are missing Sebastian Haller and Luka Jovic.
The strikers were the stars of last season's Euro run but Eintracht couldn't hold on to them and sold Haller to West Ham and Jovic to Real Madrid for a combined fee of £90million.
Bas Dost was brought in from Sporting Lisbon to help fill the void while Andre Silva arrived on loan from Milan but they have yet to make an impact, with just one goal between them. Instead, it has been Goncalo Palencia doing the business, with the Portuguese grabbing six goals from 11 games.
With Croatian forward Ante Rebic suspended after a stupid red card for a challenge on Strasbourg's keeper, I thought Palencia would be the key man. But he has surprisingly been left on the bench, so try Filip Kostic at 7/2 with Paddy Power instead for anytime scorer.
Unai Emery also surprisingly left £72m Nicolas Pepe on the bench and went with youth, starting Joe Willock and Emile Smith Rowe. Willock is 6/1 with Paddy Power for anytime scorer which could be worth a punt.
This UEFA Europa League match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Arsenal will be played on Sep 19, 2019 and kick off at 17:55. Check below for our tipsters best Eintracht Frankfurt vs Arsenal prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
