Koln will be looking to claim their fourth successive Bundesliga victory when they travel to the WWK Arena to face Augsburg on Saturday afternoon.
Only league leaders Bayern Munich have won more top-flight games since the beginning of March than both Augsburg and Koln, who have won four matches each.
Match preview
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Augsburg's hopes of Bundesliga survival were handed a major boost when they claimed a 2-0 away victory against Bochum last weekend.
First-half strikes from Andre Hahn and Michael Gregoritsch helped Die Fuggerstadter claim their ninth league victory of the campaign and their third in five matches, with Markus Weinzierl's men now sitting nine points clear of the relegation zone.
With seven points also separating them from Stuttgart – who currently occupy the relegation playoff position – victory on Saturday against Koln would confirm their top-flight status for next season.
Their chances of success this weekend are certainly possible as they have only lost one of their last 14 meetings against Koln, though that defeat was in this very fixture when the visitors won 3-2 in April last year.
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Three has been the magic number for Koln in recent weeks, as they have played three, won three and scored three goals in each game, including last Saturday's 3-1 home victory against Arminia Bielefeld.
Mark Uth put the Billy Goats in front in the third minute, and although an own goal from Timo Hubers levelled the score just after the half-hour mark, the hosts reclaimed the lead through Anthony Modeste, before Jan Thielmann added a third in the closing stages.
Steffen Baumgart's side remain in the hunt for European qualification as they currently sit seventh in the Bundesliga table, one point behind Union Berlin in sixth and five points behind RB Leipzig in fourth.
With their final three league games against Augsburg, Wolfsburg and Stuttgart, the Billy Goats will be confident of finishing the campaign strongly, and securing at least a point on Saturday would see them reach the 50-point mark in the top flight for the first time in their history.
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Team News
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Augsburg could be without both left-back options on Saturday, as Mads Pedersen will serve a one-match suspension, following an accumulation of yellow cards, while Iago is doubtful with a hamstring problem and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Left-footed centre-back Felix Uduokhai may be forced to start on the left side of a back four if Iago is not deemed fit to play, joining Robert Gumny, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Reece Oxford in defence.
Gregoritsch, who is Augsburg's top scorer so far this term with eight strikes to his name, is expected to lead the line in attack; the Austrian is yet to find the net in eight previous meetings against Koln.
As for the visitors, midfielder Salih Ozcan is the only absentee as he will serve a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the campaign last weekend.
Dejan Ljubicic may drop into a deeper midfield role alongside Ellyes Skhiri in Ozcan's absence, while Uth, Thielmann and Florian Kainz could all start in advanced positions in behind central striker Modeste.
Ever-present defenders Benno Schmitz, Luca Kilian, Timo Hubers and Jonas Hector are all set to retain their places in the back four, shielding goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe.
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Gikiewicz; Gumny, Gouweleeuw, Oxford, Uduokhai; Caligiuri, Maier, Dorsch, Vargas; Hahn, Gregoritsch
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Kilian, Hubers, Hector; Ljubicic, Skhiri; Thielmann, Uth, Kainz; Modeste
We say: Augsburg 1-2 FC Koln
Spirits are high among the two camps heading into Saturday's fixture and both teams will be confident of securing maximum points.
Although Augsburg may have the psychological advantage with their impressive head-to-head record against Koln, we can see the visitors claiming a slender victory to boost their hopes of a top-six finish.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a FC Koln win with a probability of 44.93%. A win for Augsburg had a probability of 30.57% and a draw had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Koln win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.2%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.97%) and 0-2 (7.19%). The likeliest Augsburg win was 2-1 (7.35%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.48%). The actual scoreline of 1-4 was predicted with a 2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that FC Koln would win this match.
