Cologne-Werder Bremen is a match of the 22nd day of the Bundesliga and is played on Friday at 8:30pm: live TV, probable formations, predictions.
Cologne and Werder Bremen had set themselves the same goal at the beginning of the season, namely to get as close as possible to the European zone and try to undermine the big names but only the green-and-whites, so far, have managed – in part – not to disappoint expectations. The same cannot be said of the Billy Goats, who ended up fighting not to relegate to the Zweite Liga. Indeed, Cologne after twenty-one days in the league is third to last, a full five points away from safety.
However, good spirits have been returning to the Rhineland city for a few weeks now: the exoneration of Steffen Baumgart was probably the right decision to make, since with his successor Timo Schultz at the helm of the team there has been a turnaround. In the last five days the red-and-whites have lost only to Borussia Dortmund (0-4), drew with Heidenheim, Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim, and broken their fast of victories by beating the better-ranked Eintracht Frankfurt at the RheinEnergieStadion. The corrections made by the new coach seem to be a real panacea for an attack that is still the least prolific in the Bundesliga (only 15 goals scored).In 2024, Cologne always found the way to goal, with the exception of the match with Dortmund.
Tabou Cologne for Werder Bremen
Reason why it will not be easy for Werder Bremen to break the “Cologne curse”: in fact, the green-and-whites have not won at home of the Billy Goats for 11 games and last year they even lost 7-1.
Ole Werner’s team, moreover, is coming off an ugly home defeat, against Heidenheim (1-2), which ended a long positive streak: Werder had not lost since December and before the challenge with the newly promoted team had racked up three consecutive victories, beating Bayern Munich, Freiburg and Mainz. Cologne is without the disqualified Chabot, while Werner must do without Opitz, Pieper, Stark, Veljković.
The prediction
Cologne has shifted gears with the arrival of the new coach and it cannot be ruled out that they will be able to pick up at least a point in the challenge with Werder Bremen. Both should score.
The likely lineups of Cologne-Werder Bremen
COLONIA (4-2-3-1): Schwäbe; Schmitz, Kilian, Hübers, Finkgräfe; Martel, Huseinbašić; Alidou, Kainz, Ljubicic; Thielmann.
WERDER BREMA (3-1-4-2): Zetterer; Malatini, Friedl, Jung; Lynen; Weiser, Schmid, Stage, Agu; Njinmah, Ducksch.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
