1. FC Köln host RB Leipzig in Müngersdorf on Friday with the hope of moving closer to safety in the Bundesliga. Leipzig, however, look to close in on Stuttgart in third.
Match Overview
1. FC Köln
A Damion Downs goal was enough to salvage a point away at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Despite leading on two separate occasions during the game, Köln settled for a 3-3 result against their arch rivals.
1. FC Köln are yet to lose an away game in the Bundesliga under new coach Timo Schultz. However, they have lost three of their five home games this campaign under Schultz since his appointment in January.
Köln's recent form against RB Leipzig has not been the worst. The Billy Goats have only lost two of their last six Bundesliga ties against the club from East Germany and have drawn three and won one in this period.
The club from Müngersdorf last won against RB Leipzig under Friedhelm Funkel during the Rückrunde of the 2020-21 Bundesliga season where Jonas Hector bagged a brace to give Köln the 2-1 win.
Unfortunately for Schultz (Köln's coach), the Billy Goats are in sixteenth place and are still seven points off the closest team outside of the bottom three.
Lastly, ahead of the Leipzig game, Effzeh coach Timo Schultz said: "RB Leipzig play effectively going forward and have real power. We have to defend well and keep things tight. But just like in Gladbach, we want to be active with the ball."
RB Leipzig
Leipzig were unlucky to be knocked out of the Champions League despite pulling out a draw against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.
In spite of this, RB Leipzig bounced back and won 2-0 against bottom side Darmstadt in the Bundesliga. An own goal and a Christoph Baumgartner strike helped Marco Rose to crawl closer to the top four.
Currently one point off Dortmund in fourth, Leipzig will wish to get the fourth position this season to be able to guarantee they will play in Europe's top competition next campaign.
Loïs Openda is Leipzig's top scorer this season in the Bundesliga with seventeen goals and is only behind Serhou Guirassy and Harry Kane in the goalscoring charts.
Ahead of the Köln away tie, RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose said: "In Cologne, we have known this for years, you need a good performance to get three points. Timo Schultz's team defends passionately and is well structured."
Team News
1. FC Köln
Justin Diehl is out with a muscular injury after he came off following just under five minutes on the pitch against Bayer Leverkusen. Timo Hübers is serving a yellow card suspension and Jan Thielmann is also serving a suspension for his red card against Bayer 04 so will miss the tie.
Mark Uth is also out with a knee injury and Luca Waldschmidt is also unavailable with a broken leg.
Lukas Klostermann is the only doubt for Friday's tie due to a thigh problem.
Predicted Lineups
1. FC Köln
Schwäbe; Carstensen, Kilian, Chabot, Finkgräfe; Martel, Huseinbašić; Alidou, Kainz (c), Ljubicic; Selke
Gulácsi; Henrichs, Simakan, Orban (c), Raum; Olmo, Haidara, Schlager, Xavi; Šeško, Openda
Match Result
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'18 Sargis Adamyan ⚽️
'15 Xavi Simons ⚽️
'63 Loïs Openda ⚽️
'67 Loïs Openda ⚽️
'70 Amadou Haidara ⚽️
'82 Yussuf Poulsen ⚽️
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