Frankfurt's Mahdavikia to start against ex-club

IRNA - Mehdi Mahdavikia will be in the first team line-up of Eintracht Frankfurt for Sunday's Bundesliga encounter against Hamburger SV, the daily Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper reported Thursday.

The Iranian skipper will replace Eintracht defender Patrick Ochs who will have to sit out the match in Hamburg.

Hampered by a string of injuries and woeful performances during the season, the former HSV player has yet to fulfill Frankfurt's high expectations when they signed him to a three-year contract last summer.

One of the surprise teams of this Bundesliga season, Frankfurt is presently ranked 7th with 32 points out of 21 Bundesliga games.