1. FC Köln vs. Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga Preview: Team news and predicted lineups

February 27, 2024

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13:51

MAY, 2023: Marvin Schwäbe during the match between 1. FC Koln and FC Bayern Munchen at RheinEnergieStadion. Credit: Orange Picture.

Borussia Dortmund head into this match with high confidence following the return of Jadon Sancho whilst Köln are struggling to pick up form under new coach Timo Schultz.

Match Overview

1. FC Köln started off the year with a 1-1 draw against a high-flying Heidenheim in a level contest with bright spurts of play in the first half.

With a play style which rekindles memories of the early Steffen Baumgart football at the club, Timo Schultz will hope to remain unbeaten in the Bundesliga by using the overlapping full-back system he implemented whilst at St. Pauli.

Borussia Dortmund are now only three points off Champions League football following victory against Darmstadt in their opening fixture of the calendar year.

The board's trust in Edin Terzić may still prove to pay off as the club hopes to edge closer and closer to the top four and are crucially still in the Champions League after topping their group last year.

1. FC Köln Team News

For Köln, both Luca Waldschmidt and Davie Selke sustained injuries last week with the latter scoring in the fixture against Heidenheim. In a similar fashion, Mark Uth is still struggling with his knee injury and therefore will be unable to play on Saturday. Despite this, one positive may be the increased role of youngster Justin Diehl as injuries may force Timo Schultz to give the youngster more precious game time in the coming weeks.

1. FC Köln Starting XI

Borussia Dortmund Team News

Dortmund are without both Sébastien Haller and Ramy Bensebaini as they are both at the Africa Cup of Nations. Karim Adeyemi and Felix Nmecha are out with ankle and hip injuries respectively. Julian Ryerson is also out with a knee problem. Nico Schlotterbeck is a doubt for Dortmund as he came off with an injury sustained versus Darmstadt.