Borussia Dortmund will travel to Cologne this Saturday to face FC Koln in the
Venue: RheinEnergieStadion (Cologne)
Key Statistics
FC Koln have lost just one of their last eight games in all competitions (W3, D4).
They have not kept a clean sheet in their last five games.
At home, they have won just one of their last four games (D1, L2) failing to score on two occasions.
They have conceded the opener on the joint-most occasions in the Bundesliga this season (five).
Borussia Dortmund have lost their last two away games in all competitions.
The visitors have only collected fewer points against Bayern Munich (zero) than against Cologne (five – W1, D2, L1) since the start of 2020/21.
They have the second most Bundesliga clean sheets so far this season (four).
Head to head
Dortmund have won five of the last 14 league meetings between both sides. FC Koln have three wins in that period (D6).
Latest performances in all competitions
Dortmund: D-W-L-D-W
FC Koln: W–L-L-W-W
FC Koln
FC Cologne will welcome Borussia Dortmund to RheinEnergieStadion looking to continue their positive start to the new season.
The hosts have lost just once after seven Bundesliga games (W2, D4). However, those four draws will probably leave a bitter taste of ‘what could’ve been in the mouth of Koln fans who are expecting another strong run this season after their side finished in the top seven last season.
While they will be ashamed that they failed to win five out of their opening seven games this season, Koln will at least be pleased that they have snatched a point from three losing positions so far.
Cologne’s six points collected after conceding first is an outright league-high and they will fancy their chances of maintaining momentum in this fixture.
However, if they want to snap a five-match winless Bundesliga home run against Borussia Dortmund (D3, L2), they will have to avoid falling behind. Steffen Baumgart’s side are winless in their last two home games but can be expected to bounce back in this game as they have never gone winless in three home games under Baumgart.
Possible FC Koln starting line-up
Marvin Schwäbe; Kristian Pedersen, Nikola Soldo, Timo Hubers, Jonas Hector; Eric Martel, Ellyes Skhiri; Florian Kainz, Linton Maina, Benno Schmitz, Florian Dietz.
Injured: Sebastian Andersson, Julian Chabot, Mathias Olesen, Tim Lemperle, Timo Horn
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Borussia Dortmund
For Borussia Dortmund, this game is all about maintaining their place at the upper end of the table as the Bundesliga title race continues to look interesting given that perennial title contenders, Bayern Munich are struggling.
Edin Terzic’s side come into this tie sitting second on the league standings, three points ahead of the Bavarians.
They have won five of their league games this season (L2), but come into this clash five points better off than FC Koln despite losing more games than their rivals.
That shows the tight nature of the Bundesliga at the moment, meaning that any slip-ups could see the Black and Yellow lose their placement at the top.
They will travel to Koln looking to build on their most recent 1-0 win over Schalke 04 in the derby. However, a game against Cologne may not be as straightforward as it appears though for the visitors, who have only collected fewer points against Bayern Munich (zero) than against Cologne (five – W1, D2, L1) since the start of 2020/21.
And given that they have lost their last two away games, the signs are not so good for them.
https://twitter.com/BlackYellow/status/1575448820040847360
Possible Dortmund starting line-up
Alexander Meyer; Marius Wolf, Mats Hummels, Nico Schlotterbeck, Raphael Guerreiro; Thomas Meunier, Jude Bellingham, Salih Ozcan; Donyell Malen, Julian Brandt; Anthony Modeste.
Injured: Gregor Kobel, Sebastian Haller, Mateu Morey, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Marco Reus, Mahmoud Dahoud, Giovanni Reyna
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
FC Koln 1-2 Dortmund
