The German Bundesliga continues with round 30 match-ups this weekend. First encounter of this round is set for Friday night when the FC Koln and the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim square off at the RheinEnergie Stadion. Both teams are in need of valuable points that could secure the European competitions next season. The hosts are not in a great form lately, while the visitors are currently riding a very fruitful period, losing only 3 points in their last 5 games. Things are heating up in the German soccer as season finale comes closer and as always, we have prepared the game analysis in order to exploit some easy betting picks. Let’s take a closer look.
FC KOLN vs. TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM
3-Way: 1: FC Koln +236; X: +262 Draw; TSG 1899 Hoffenheim +136
Spread +0.5: FC Koln -137 ; TSG 1899 Hoffenheim +129
Total +2.5 : Over -122; Under +117
FC KOLN
The FC Koln currently ranks seventh in the German Bundesliga table. The team played much better in the first half of the season when they recorded only three losses in 19 games and the fans had some big expectations mounting but recent streak pushed them away from the European competitions spots, which is still very close though. They have 40 points in 29 games, one point less than sixth placed Freiburg and three points less than the fifth placed Hertha Berlin. Behind them are SV Werder Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach with one point less, while Eintracht Frankfurt has two points less marking a very crowded part of the league table.
In their last ten games, the FC Koln has collected only two wins (2-1-5 in the last eight games) and they are 2-0-2 in the last four home games. They are coming off from two consecutive defeats at home against Moenchengladbach (2:3) and on the road against FC Augsburg (1:2). Their home record is 7-5-2 with 22-13 goal difference (42-36 overall) and they rank seventh in the home league table with 26 of 42 possible points earned.
FC Koln scores 1.57 and concedes 0.93 goals per match in front of their own crowd (1.45 – 1.24 overall) and their home games have 2.50 goals in total. 43% of their home games are over 2.5 goals while 14% of their home matches are over 3.5 goals in total. 10% of total matches are over 4.5 goals and 10% of games are over 2.5 goals at half-time. Most common result at home is a 1:1 draw (occurred four times).
Forward Anthony Modeste continues with great performances as he has already scored 23 goals in the league this season (third in the league). Yuya Osako has six goals in his account so far while Milos Jojic and Artjoms Rundevs have three each. Osako is also a leading assister with five while Marcel Risse collected four. Defenders Jonas Hector and Dominique Heintz top the passing segment with 1107 and 963 total passes. Three goalkeepers saw some playing time this season as Timo Horn (15 games), Thomas Kessler (13 games) and Sven Muller (one game) collected 94 saves and had eight clean sheet games combined.
Midfielder Marcel Risse (cruciate ligament) is out for the season since December last year. Simon Zoller (thigh) and Sehrou Guirassy (muscle) status is unknown and they have unspecified dates of return.
TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM
The TSG 1899 Hoffenheim continues to surprise everyone with outstanding performances this season. Currently they hold the third spot in the league table that leads to the UEFA Champions League play next season with 54 points in 29 games. They are seven points behind the RB Leipzig and one point in front of Borussia Dortmund. One of the European competitions next season is almost a certainty as they are 14 points above the EC qualifying line.
They are one of the only two teams that managed to defeat the current leader and the defending champions Bayern Munich and they have only five losses in the entire season. Team’s seven games undefeated streak ended two weeks ago in Hamburg when the host defeated them with 2:1, but they got back on track in the last round by defeating Borussia Moenchengladbach 5:3, in Sinsheim.
They are 5-2-1 in the last eight games and they are 1-2-1 in the last four road games. Their road record is 4-7-3 with 22-17 goal difference (56-31 overall). Hoffenheim has scored in 93% of their away matches and they scored in each of their last 15 matches including at least one goal in each of their seven last away matches. They rank third in the road league table with 19 of 42 possible points earned.
Team from Sinsheim scores 1.57 and concedes 1.21 goals on the road this season (1.93-1.07 overall) and their matches have total of 3.00 goals in average. 50% of their away games are over 2.5 goals but only 14% of their road matches are over 3.5 goals in total. In 21% of their away games they’ve managed to score in both halves and in 14% of their road matches they’ve conceded in both halves. Most common results on the road are 1:1 draw (occurred five times) and 2:1 loss (occurred three times).
Andrej Kramaric and Sandro Wagner top the team in scoring this season with 12 and 11 goals while Adam Szalai and Mark Uth have seven each in their accounts. Kramaric is also the team’s leading assister with eight while Kerem Demirbay and Sebastian collected seven and six. Niklas Sule and Kevin Vogt are the team’s lading passers with 1635 and 1447 total passes. Goalie Oliver Baumann played every minute for the team this season and collected 98 saves with 10 games with clean sheets.
Benjamin Hubner (yellow card suspension) is unavailable for Friday game while Sandro Wagner’s (ankle) status is unknown and it’s uncertain of he will be able for this round to coach Nagelsmann.
The TSG 1899 Hoffenheim is clearly the team in a better form at the moment. They need the points to make the case for Champions League appearance as Borussia Dortmund is breathing down their neck. The FC Koln, on the other side, also needs the points, especially at home if they want to engage the battle for the European competitions spots. Teams met nine times so far in the top Bundesliga competition and Koln currently holds the edge with a 3-5-1 record. The only Hoffenheim’s win over Koln happened in the first match-up of this season when they outplayed and outscored the visitors with 4:0 on December 3rd, last year. My safe bet in this match-up would be at least one goal by both sides and possible 3+ goals scored.
MY PICK: Over 2.5 goals (-122)
Additional Pick: Both teams to score YES (-145)
