Borussia Dortmund vs Koln
Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund
Friday, 24-01-2020 @10:30pm
Ref: Harm Osmers
Borussia Dortmund enjoyed an electric start to the second last weekend. The Black and Yellows came back from 3-1 behind to register an incredible 5-3 win over FC Augsburg, thanks to a second-half hat-trick from new signing Erling Haaland.
On Friday night, they will be looking to replicate that performance against 1.FC Koln, in what will be Dortmund’s first home game of this calendar year. The German giants generally perform really well at the Signal Iduna Park, especially under current head coach Lucien Favre.
But, things could be tricky against a Koln side, who have enjoyed immense success following the arrival of Markus Gisdol. They have won all of their last four matches in the Bundesliga, with their last defeat coming against Union Berlin back in early December.
This solid run of form has helped the Billygoats come out of the relegation scrap. They are currently 13th in the league table, and a win could potentially help them overtake 11th placed Eintracht Frankfurt. Dortmund, on the other hand, are in with a chance of overtaking Bayern Munich if they lose their game against FC Schalke on Saturday.
Dan-Axel Zagadou and Thomas Delaney have been ruled out for Dortmund due to a lack of fitness. Marcel Schmelzer has returned to training, but he’s unlikely to be in contention.
For Koln they have no major absentees for the game and are likely to put out a strong team as they hope to pull off an upset.
Across all competitions, Koln have not won in Dortmund since a 2-1 victory in April 1991, and are winless in 19 away games since. Koln are without a win in their last six Bundesliga games against Dortmund, losing each of the last three. Their most recent win in this fixture came on MD17 of the 2015/16 campaign. Dortmund are undefeated in their last 27 Bundesliga home games on a Friday. Meanwhile, Koln have lost their last six Friday BL games – including two at home against BVB. Dortmund came back from 2-0 and 3-1 down to win 5-3 in Augsburg last time out. Only Leipzig (12) have picked up more points from losing positions in the Bundesliga this season than BVB (11). Dortmund have conceded eight goals in their last three Bundesliga games (the same as Augsburg) – no side has let in more in this timeframe.
The other upcoming Bundesliga games this weekend
Saturday, 25-01-2020
-Monchengladbach vs Mainz @5:30pm
-Wolfsburg vs Hertha Berlin @5:30pm
-Frankfurt vs Leipzig @5:30pm
-Freiburg vs Paderborn @5:30pm
-Union Berlin vs Augsburg @5:30pm
-Bayern vs Schalke 04 @8:30pm
Sunday, 26-01-2020
-Bremen vs Hoffenheim @5:30pm
-Leverkusen vs Dusseldorf @8pm
