Koln take on the visitors Borussia Dortmund in the round 18 match of French Ligue 1. The match will be played on Saturday, January 20th at RheinEnergieStadion (Cologne).
After returning to the Bundesliga, "The Goats" initially fought for survival for two seasons, then made a breakthrough, finishing seventh. In the previous season, they ended the league in 11th place, seemingly establishing themselves as a solid mid-table team. However, at the moment, Cologne are once again one of the worst teams in the championship, situated in the relegation zone - second to last in the table. They score little, concede a lot, and have lost more than half of their league matches (10 out of 17 rounds). This includes four home defeats to Wolfsburg (1-2), Hoffenheim (1-3), Stuttgart (0-2), and Bayern Munich (0-1). I believe the loss to "The Wasps" will be a landmark fifth defeat for the team at their own stadium.
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After the winter break, Borussia Dortmund's players did not take time to regain momentum and immediately ended their winless streak by crushing Darmstadt away (3-0). Considering that "The Hornets" have struggled in their recent away performances, the victory seemed somewhat too easy, with 2.83 against 0.51 on xG. Marco Reus scored from a pass by Jadon Sancho, reminiscent of the good old times. Brand scored his sixth goal in the championship, while Mukoko found the net after coming off the bench. It seems that Edin Terzic has steered his team in the right direction during the break. Borussia must make up for lost points in the Champions League race. "The Hornets" are flying towards their second consecutive victory in January.
In essence, is today's Cologne significantly stronger than Dortmund's previous opponent? No. They have only one point more in their bank, essentially being just as much an outsider in the Bundesliga as Darmstadt. It's quite likely that a crushing victory from the visitors should not be expected, but Borussia must take three points in this round. The odds for Dortmund's victory would be much lower if not for the fact that Dortmund have struggled to defeat "The Goats" on their home turf for a long time. However, as known, every streak has its end. Considering the dreadful form of today's Cologne, now is the perfect time for that to happen.
Prediction for the match: Borussia Dortmund to win.
