In the championship fight, BVB has put itself behind. A win over the recently weak Cologne team is a must in order to overtake Bayern at least overnight.
But the drop is enormous: With 19 points, Borussia Dortmund is the best second-round team in the Bundesliga. However, the last encounters with the Domstadters were bumpy: There was only one win in five games, in October 2021.
Now there is before the top game on Saturday evening (6.30 p.m. – LIVE in the ticker SPORTS1) bad injury news for BVB, regarding which coach Edin Terzic complains: “We got into a vicious circle, so we not only had to replace the boys, but also bring them back in early.”
Borussia Dortmund vs. 1. FC Köln: The line-ups
Dortmund: Meyer – Wolf, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson – Dahoud – Bellingham, Guerreiro – Malen, Reus – Haller
Köln: Schwäbe – Schmitz, Hübers, Chabot, Hector – Olesen, Skhiri – Adamyan, Ljubicic, Kainz – Selke
Kobel and Özcan out – what is Terzic doing?
How SPORTS1 had previously reported, Borussia will once more have to do without Gregor Kobel once morest Cologne. The Swiss keeper is still unavailable following suffering a hip injury and also catching a cold. He only started training once more on Friday.
The numbers show how important Kobel’s support is: if he’s between the posts, BVB have 18 wins and three draws in four defeats. That’s an average of 2.3 points per game. Without the 25-year-old, Black and Yellow recorded four wins, two draws and four defeats – an average of 1.4 points.
Borussia will also miss Salih Özcan once morest his former club. The runner-up announced that the winner was out with a gastrointestinal illness. “We hope that we’ll have most of them back following the international break,” Terzic gave BVB supporters hope.
BVB coach Edin Terzic also has to plan without offensive youngster Jamie Bynoe-Gittens. The winger continues to complain of shoulder pain. Terzic has to do without some regulars anyway: Emre Can is suspended, Julian Brandt and Karim Adeyemi are suffering from a torn muscle fiber and are not in the squad.
Dortmund will probably play in a 4-3-3 with a midfield of Mahmoud Dahoud, Jude Bellingham and Raphael Guerreiro following the numerous absentees. Captain Marco Reus is back in attack following recovering from a cold and is flanking center forward Sebastien Haller together with Donyell Malen.
But Cologne also had to digest a shock. Regular player Benno Schmitz was injured while warming up at Signal-Iduna-Park. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old was able to play from the start.
First leg bankruptcy: “We have been warned”
The people of Cologne have to be careful not to get sucked into the relegation pull. With only seven points ahead of the relegation rank, every point counts. Will one or even three be added on Saturday evening in Signal Iduna Park?
“We have been warned, not only from the first leg, but also from the tight games of the past few years. Even if they haven’t scored that often in the past few games, they’re extremely dangerous,” Terzic urged caution following the 3-2 defeat in the first leg.
On the other hand, 8,500 away fans from Cologne are keen on the performance of their billy goat team: following surviving the carnival wave of illnesses, FC wants to secure the midfield. FC have not scored in four games since the game once morest Frankfurt.
The trend should also be stopped with ex-Borussian Steffen Tigges. The center forward has more goals this season (five) than ex-Cologne Anthony Modeste (two), Sebastien Haller or Donyell Malen (one each).
So you can follow Dortmund – Cologne live on TV & Stream
live ticker: SPORT1.de and SPORT1
