Borussia Dortmund-Cologne is a Bundesliga match of the twenty-fifth day and is played on Saturday at 18:30: TV, likely formations, predictions.
The elimination from the Champions League, which came at the best possible moment, has evidently left its mark on Borussia Dortmund, whose winning streak has also come to a halt in the league after eight consecutive successes. Last weekend, the Gialloneri had to deal with the physiological backlash and were stopped in Gelsenkirchen by Schalke 04 (2-2) in the heartfelt Revierderby.
Leading twice, first through Schlotterbeck and then through Guerreiro, they were caught by their cousins on both occasions, leaving them with two precious points at the Veltins Arena against a team that is struggling to climb out of the bottom half of the table. It was a draw that also slowed down their run-up to leading Bayern Munich. The Bavarians did not let themselves be repeated twice, they overwhelmed Augsburg in the other derby of the day and are now at +2 from Borussia, who can still boast an important advantage against the competitors for a Champions League place. Edin Terzic and his men can take back the lead now, at least for a few hours. Awaiting the match between the reigning champions and Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday, they have the chance to momentarily overtake Bayern by beating Cologne in another regional derby, in any case less prestigious than the one with Schalke.
Köln, what a steep drop
Borussia Dortmund are relying heavily on the home factor: the Signal Iduna Park is once again a fortress this year, with a record of nine wins, one draw and one defeat in 11 Bundesliga matches.
Cologne players cheer after a goal
Cologne, on the other hand, are playing with too much fire, coming off a poor performance against Bochum (0-2), who were last in the table until seven days ago. The Billy Goats, with their third defeat in the last four matches, have now slipped to twelfth place, +7 behind third-last-placed Stuttgart, who, if the championship ended today, would play the promotion/relegation play-off with the third-placed team in the Zweite Liga. It is still a reassuring lead, but Steffen Baumgart’s men cannot sleep soundly, especially in light of an attack that has not scored a goal for over a month now. Terzic, meanwhile, will have to do without the disqualified Emre Can, but at the same time hopes to recover Reus, who is struggling with the flu. Baumgart instead with the doubt Horn.
The Prediction
Cologne have often taken points away from Signal Iduna Park in recent seasons, but this year’s away performance leaves something to be desired. They haven’t won on the road since last September and are unlikely to do so against a Borussia Dortmund side who are looking for a fresh start after their misstep in the Revierderby. It is very likely that the yellow and red will score at least two goals in the other Rhine derby.
Borussia Dortmund v Cologne likely line-ups
- BORUSSIA DORTMUND (4-3-3): Kobel; Wolf, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson; Bellingham, Özcan, Guerreiro; Malen, Haller, Reus.
- COLONIA (4-2-3-1): Schwäbe; Schmitz, Hübers, Chabot, Hector; Skhiri, Martel; Maina, Ljubicic, Kainz; Selke.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
