Cologne-Werder Bremen is a Bundesliga Week 16 match and is played on Saturday at 18:30: line-ups, predictions, TV and streaming.
Cologne’s 2022 had ended on a bad note. Steffen Baumgart’s team, a distant relative of the one that last season surprisingly secured a pass to Europe, greeted the old year with three defeats in a row. That becomes four if we widen our range and consider all five of the last five Bundesliga days. Barely a point – the draw with Hoffenheim – out of fifteen available for the Billy Goats, who were also eliminated from the Conference League in November.
And yet the start promised great things, with Hector and his team-mates having collected just one defeat in their first eight matches. The decline, not only physical, occurred in conjunction with the European commitment, which took energy and resources away from Cologne, also due to a very demanding round. The bitterness for the elimination from the cup has been quite a lot, but it is likely that in the second part of the season, free from other thoughts, the red and white team will get back on track, first of all securing a quiet salvation. Yes, because the relegation zone, after the string of defeats, is no longer far away. Baumgart and his mates start again from the thirteenth place, with a margin of three points on the third-last one.
The Werder Bremen, who are the best-performing of the newly-promoted teams so far, have four more points in the table. Ole Werner’s green-and-whites, led by the goals of goal scorer Fullkrug – also called up for the World Cup in Qatar – are close to the European zone. This is a breath of fresh air for a fan base that had been shattered by the bitter relegation two seasons ago. Like Cologne, Werder had also slowed down somewhat in the final ‘first half’ of the Bundesliga, ending with two consecutive defeats against two of the strongest teams in the league: Bayern Munich (6-1) and Leipzig (1-2).
Romano Schmid
The Prediction
The record smiles on Cologne, who have not lost at home to Werder Bremen in 17 years. A lot will depend on how the two teams have recovered after the break, as they both came into the break struggling. It is difficult to identify a clear favourite in this match, but in our opinion the guests have what it takes to avoid defeat in a match with at least two goals in total.
Cologne v Werder Bremen likely line-up
- COLONIA (4-2-3-1): Schwäbe; Schmitz, Hübers, Chabot, Hector; Skhiri, Martel; Maina, Huseinbasic, Kainz; Tigges.
- WERDER BREMA (3-5-2): Pavlenka; Pieper, Veljkovic, Friedl; Weiser, Bittencourt, Groß, Gruev, Jung; Füllkrug, Ducksch.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
