Sports Mole gives a preview of Saturday’s Bundesliga clash between RB Leipzig and FC Köln, including predictions, team news and potential line-ups.
RB Leipzig take over FC Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The DFB Cup winner hopes for the first league win of the season, which was played by Stuttgart last week.
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game preview
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Despite the 3:5 defeat against Bayern Munich in an exciting duel in the DFL Supercup, Leipzig’s coach Domenico Tedesco would have been encouraged by his side’s attacking offensive, going away in Stuttgart for the Bundesliga opener.
This encouragement was justified afterwards Christopher Nunku picked up where he left off last season when the French striker recklessly fired the ball into the far corner to put the visitors ahead in the eighth minute.
Keeping Nkunku – who scored 35 goals in all competitions last season and was also named Bundesliga Player of the Year – for another season could prove crucial in helping Leipzig achieve their goals this season . In addition, the acquisitions of David Raum, Xavier Schlager and former hero Timo Werner significantly improved Tedesco’s first XI.
However after Naouirou AhamadaIn the further course of the first half, Stuttgart equalized with a fine performance, the guests could not beat their stubborn opponent despite a test Florian Mueller a total of nine times.
Nkunku fired straight at the stopper from close range before Muller spared his best save until the end when he somehow scraped away Willy Orban‘s bullet header. A frustrating day in the office for Tedesco and his players, then, but plenty to build on ahead of Saturday’s home game against Cologne.
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After being eliminated from the DFB Cup on penalties against second division club Jahn Regensburg, the comfortable 3-1 win against Schalke 04 last weekend was just the thing for the doctor Stephen Baumgart and its players.
In his debut season last time out, Baumgart led Koln to their highest Bundesliga result since fifth place in 2016-2017, with their score of 52 actually being their best performance since a win was worth three points as opposed to two at centre. 1990s.
Given their struggles in recent seasons, with just one relegation playoff a season before being saved from a second relegation in four seasons, the 50-year-old has clearly sparked a dramatic upswing in the club’s fortunes.
The truth is, Dominik DrexlerA direct red card for a 35th-minute challenge with a stud helped his former side enormously last week, with Cologne inevitably instigating a one-way street after half-time.
defender Luke Killian hit the empty goal from close range to break the deadlock on his debut in front of the Schalke keeper Alexander Schwalow fumbled to allow a cross Florian Kainz to do something similar and to double Cologne’s lead.
Baumgart will not have been impressed by the freedom his defense afforded him Marius Butlerwho briefly gave the guests hope for an unlikely comeback Dejan Ljubicic‘s header wrapped up the three points with 10 minutes to go.
Saturday’s trip to Leipzig will almost certainly be a far tougher test and a better indication of where Cologne can realistically finish this season, especially after last season’s top scorer Anton ModestSale to Borussia Dortmund.
RB Leipzig Bundesliga form:
Form RB Leipzig (all competitions):
FC Koln Bundesliga form:
FC Köln form (all competitions):
Team News
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The news dealt a heavy blow to Leipzig Luke Klosterman sustained a serious ankle injury in last week’s 1-1 draw in Stuttgart that could keep the defender out for weeks.
Mohammed Simakan appears to be the natural replacement on the right side of Tedesco’s back three Josko Gvardiol can replace Marcel Halstenberg on left, who regained match fitness off the bench last weekend.
Yusuf Poulsen and Konrad Leimer with ankle and thigh injuries remain questionable, so Werner could be thrown straight in on his second debut at the club.
With people like Nkunku, Andre Silva and Dani Olmo With everyone pushing for starts too, Todesco will be scratching his head on how to get the right balance in his starting XI. With his side playing a side they expect to beat at home, Olmo could start in a deeper role than usual Benjamin Henrichs Switch to right-back and youngster Hugo Nova fall out sideways.
Meanwhile, Cologne travels without Dimitrios Limnios due to a knee injury while Markus Uth remains questionable in the case of a thigh strain.
After a routine win into the season, Baumgart is unlikely to make any changes to his team with a new signing Sargis Adamyan should play a key role on the bench.
RB Leipzig possible starting line-up:
Gulasci; Simakan, Orban, Gvardiol; Henrichs, Kampl, Olmo, Raum; nkunku; Werner, Silva
FC Köln possible starting line-up:
Swabian; Schmitz, Kilian, Chabot, Hector; Schindler, Ljubicic, Skhiri, Kainz; Dietz, Thielman
We say: RB Leipzig 3: 1 FC Cologne
We’re expecting a comfortable win on home soil for Leipzig, whose fans will be cheered by the return of Werner after his £25m move from Chelsea.
Cologne are a massively improved team under Baumgart but Schalke’s early dismissal last weekend helped them as Leipzig probably have too much firepower for them.
For data analysis of the most likely outcomes, goal scores and more for this game, please click here.
top tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com predict under 3.5 goals in this game. Click here to find out what else they predict for this game and for more of their football best tips.Under 3.5: Data