Two out of the three teams still unbeaten in the Bundesliga this season meet this weekend at the RheinEnergieStadion as FC Cologne face Union Berlin in the sixth round of the 2022/23 Bundesliga season.
Venue: RheinEnergieStadion (Cologne)
Key Statistics
FC Cologne have lost just one of their nine competitive games this season (W3, D4–90 minutes only).
They have kept just two clean sheets in nine competitive games this season.
Cologne have picked up five points from losing positions already (W1, D2).
Union Berlin are yet to fall behind in league action this season.
They are unbeaten in 12 consecutive league games (W9, D3).
The visitors have scored 12 league goals this season. Only Bayern Munich (17) have scored more goals than they have in the league this season.
Head to head
Union Berlin have dominated this fixture in recent times, winning six out of the last eight head-to-head meetings between both sides (D2).
Latest performances in all competitions
FC Cologne: D-W-D-W-D-L
Union Berlin: L-D-W-W-D
Cologne
After their exertions in the UEFA Conference League in midweek, FC Koln will look to continue their unbeaten start to the season when they welcome fellow unbeaten Union Berlin to Cologne this Sunday.
The hosts have enjoyed a brilliant start to the season for Cologne, who remain unbeaten after five Bundesliga rounds (W2, D3). Their last league outing was an impressive 4-2 away win over Wolfsburg, taking their points tally for the season to nine points and putting them in sixth place ahead of this round of games.
The last they enjoyed a similar run in the opening five rounds of the season was in the 2016/17 season when they stayed unbeaten in their first five league outings on the way to a fifth-placed finish.
While they have been impressive in the league, the Billy Goats have also taken their form into Europe. After securing a top-seven finish last season, to qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League, Steffen Baumgart’s have positively begun the group stage, earning a 1-1 draw against Nice during midweek.
They will now go into this tie looking to extend their unbeaten start to the season by another game and ultimately keep their quest for another top-six finish this season alive. But they have to be in their best shape to take a point from this game given that they are winless against Union in their last eight league games (D2, L6).
Possible FC Cologne starting line-up
Marvin Schwäbe; Kingsley Schindler, Lucas Kilian, Timo Hubers, Jonas Hector; Ellyes Skhiri; Florian Kainz, Ondrej Duda, Dejan Ljubicic; Jan Thielmann, Steffen Tigges.
Injured: Mark Uth, Sebastian Andersson, Dimitrios Lemnios
Doubtful: Julian Chabot, Mathias Olesen, Benno Schmitz
Suspended: None
Union Berlin
Union Berlin will look to get back to winning ways when they travel to Cologne on Sunday.
The visitors, who have been one of the most impressive teams in the Bundesliga these past few months having not tasted defeat in the league since a 4-0 loss to Bayern Munich in March (W9, D3), began their European campaign in a disappointing 1-0 loss to Nice on Thursday.
The result was just their third loss in any competition since February 2022 and will have disappointed Urs Fischer who will be hoping for his side to make the best of their adventure in Europe this year, having secured a place in the Europa League via a fifth-place finish last season.
In any case, the visitors are enjoying a decent start to the season in the league. They, alongside Bayern and FC Koln, are the only unbeaten team in the German top flight despite already playing the champions last weekend. Their credible 1-1 draw with Bayern last weekend prompted iconic Bayern midfielder Thomas Müller to state “I enjoy watching Union, they stand tall on the pitch”.
They will now hope that having already snatched a point from the best team in Germany, they can take maximum points against a Koln side they have beaten six times in the last eight meetings.
Possible Union Berlin starting line-up
Frederik Roennow; Paul Jaeckel, Robin Knoche, Danilho Doekhi; Christopher Trimmel, Rani Khedira, Morten Thorsby, Andras Schafer, Julian Ryerson; Kevin Behrens, Sheraldo Becker.
Injured: Dominique Heintz, Keita Endo
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
FC Koln 2-3 Union Berlin
