First of two remaining Sunday matchups in the round 11 will take place at Rhein-Energie Stadium in Koln between Billy Goats and the Blues from Sinsheim. FC Koln team is slowly coming out of the period of poor performances as they’ve managed to record wins in DFB Pokal and in UEFA Europa League but they haven’t been able to transfer this solid form to the Bundesliga play. They’re coming off from a 2:1 loss in Leverkusen after they’ve scored an opener and had a lead at the half-time.
On the other side Hoffenheim squad has entered the winless streak four rounds ago that continued last weekend at home against Monchengladbach when they suffered a surprising 3:1 loss. This will be one very exciting matchup and hopefully one of these teams will end the drought when it comes to taking off full prey.
FC Koln vs. TSG Hoffenheim 1899
Three-Way: 1: FC Koln +190; X: +275 Draw; 2: TSG Hoffenheim 1899 +165 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread 0: FC Koln +108; TSG Hoffenheim 1899 -111
Total +2.5: Over -111; Under +131
FC KOLN
The FC Koln team is recording the worse start of the season in German top tier soccer competition in club’s history but this streak of winless games could finally come to an end this Sunday. The signs of the end of results-crisis are evident because team managed to take down Hertha on the road in DFB Pokal last week and they’ve also recorded their first win in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday by sending the Belarus side BATE Borisov home with five goals in the net (5:2 was the final result). This raise of performance quality should transfer itself to the Bundesliga competition soon as coach Stoger look to be on to something when it comes to the right scheme and starting eleven.
As aforementioned, the Billy Goats are ranked at the bottom of the table with only two points after ten games and a 0-2-8 record (0-1-3 at home). Their goal difference is 4-19 (2-6 at home) and 60% of their overall matches had over 2.5 goals in total while 25% of their home games had over 3.5 goals in total. 75% of FC Koln’s goals have been scored in the second half and the team was losing at halftime in 60% of their matchups. Three of four Koln’s scored goals so far came after the 75th minute of the match and squad managed to concede at least one goal in both halves in every second duel while both teams scored in 40% of their overall matchups.
Manager Peter Stoger made a transition to the 4-4-2 scheme in last few games while also making some roster changes. Against Bayer, Sorensen, Maroh, Heintz, and Horn started on the defensive line while Osako, Lehmann, Ozcan and Bittencourt operated in the middle of the field. Guirassy and Zoller started at the centre-forward positions. Sehrou Guirassy, Dominique Heintz, Yuya Osako and Frederik Sorensen scored one goal each so far while Tim Handwerker and Jhon Cordoba have one assist each. Passing segment belongs to midfielder Matthias Lehmann with 386 total passes while goalie Timo Horn has 163 shots against, 33 saves and two clean-sheet games recorded. Defender Fredrik Sorensen is the most undisciplined player with four yellow cards.
Claudio Pizzaro (thigh), Jhon Cordoba (thigh) and Nikolas Nartey (meniscus) are all expected to be back during this month while Jonas Hector’s (ankle) timetable for return is set to mid-December. Marco Hoger’s (muscle) and Marius Laux’s status is unknown while Marcel Risse (meniscus) is back in training.
TSG HOFFENHEIM 1899
The TSG Hoffenheim team is winless in last four rounds in the Bundesliga with two losses (against Freiburg on the road and Monchengladbach at home) and two draws (against FC Augsburg at home and Wolfsburg on the road). Period of winless games continued during the midweek in Europa League when the team managed to record a road draw in Turkey against Baseksehir which actually can be considered as a success. Still, it looks like the crisis of the results is taking its toll and players and coaches definitely need to remedy certain weak spots in order to regain the confidence and get their game back on the right level.
They are currently ranked at No. 7 spot in the league table with 16 points and a 4-4-2 record (1-2-1 on the road). Team scores 1.70 and concedes 1.40 goals per match (17-14 goal difference) and 75% f their away duels had over 2.5 goals in total while 50% of their overall matchups had over 3.5 goals in total. The squad scored at least one goal in every single Bundesliga match this season and they’ve managed to score the opening goal in 80% of their showdowns. On the other side, they’ve conceded at least one goal in both halves in every second visiting game while both teams scored in 70% of their duels.
Julian Nagelsmann prefers the 3-5-2 scheme with Posch, Vogt, and Akpoguma as centre-backs, and Schulz, Amiri, Geiger, Demirbay and Kaderabek operating in front of them as midfielders. Wagner and Uth duo has mostly attacking assignments up front. Striker Mark Uth tops the team in scoring with five goals while Kerem Demirbay, Andrej Kramaric, and Sandro Wagner have two each. Kramaric and Wagner along with Steven Zuber collected team-high two assists each while defenders Kevin Vogt and Benjamin Hubner hold the passing game under control with 565 and 451 total passes. Goalie Oliver Baumann has 148 shots against, 32 saves and three clean-sheet games while Benjamin Hubner presents the most undisciplined player in the team and in the league with five yellow cards.
Pavel Kaderabek (knee) is expected to be available during the next month while Lukas Rupp’s (hip) and Mark Uth’s (thigh) status is unknown. Serge Gnabry (thigh) and Ermin Bicakcic (knee) are listed as day to day while Robert Zulj (hip) and Adam Szalai (groin) are both back in training.
FC Koln vs. TSG Hoffenheim 1899 – Match Prediction
I’m the fan of the underdogs and the teams that are trying to run the table in the season that started badly and that’s why my sympathy here goes to the Billy Goats. They’ve recorded the worse start of the season in history and they do have only two points earned of possible 30 but the positive signs are obvious. Having in mind guests’ latest results and the fact that they might face the hosts without their top scorer Mark Uth who is questionable for Sunday, I think that FC Koln has a big chance of recording its first victory of the season and that’s where I will go with my initial pick. Also, I don’t think that this will be a high-scoring game although Hoffenheim had some high-scoring tendencies so far. Extraordinary tough duel with one or two goals in total is my guess and that will be my additional pick.
My pick: FC Koln (+190)
Additional Pick: Under 2.5 goals (+131)
