FC Koln play host to Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday evening looking for the win which may move the club into the top half of the Bundesliga standings.
Meanwhile, Dusseldorf make the trip to the RheinEnergieSTADION with a five-point advantage over the bottom two, a consequence of drawing with last-placed Paderborn last weekend.
Match preview
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Of all the teams in the Bundesliga, FC Koln arguably have the least to play for over the coming weeks, being six points adrift of the European places and 10 points above the bottom three.
Nevertheless, that will not stop Markus Gisdol demanding improvements from his side after their 2-2 draw at home to Mainz on their return to action.
Having established a 2-0 advantage, Koln appeared well on their way to a strong performance and victory, only for the visitors to rally back to claim a share of the spoils.
There were five stoppages of play within a 27-minute period during the second half as both teams took full advantage of using five substitutions, but it seemingly only played into the hands of the visitors.
The main plus point from Koln's perspective was Mark Uth contributing to yet another goal, with his early spot kick making it five strikes and four assists since joining from Schalke 04 in January.
As far as Dusseldorf are concerned, there will be a feeling that they missed an opportunity to make some headway towards safety having only recorded a draw against Paderborn.
While a third stalemate in a row moved the club further away from Werder Bremen, failing to see off their fellow strugglers would have frustrated Uwe Rosler.
Recording just the one point raises the stakes ahead of their next two outings against opponents in Koln and Schalke 04, who will feel that they are low in confidence.
Three of Dusseldorf's last half-a-dozen fixtures are against Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, meaning that they can ill-afford a poor return from the next double-header if they want to avoid making participation in the relegation playoff their best-case scenario.
FC Koln Bundesliga form: LWWWLD
Fortuna Dusseldorf Bundesliga form: DLWDDD
Team News
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Despite failing to continue his recent form last week, Jhon Cordoba should retain his place in the Koln starting lineup.
Meanwhile, Dusseldorf will be without Kaan Ayhan through suspension after the defender picked up his 10th yellow card of the season.
However, Gisdol and Rosler will both consider making changes to their respective lineups given the upcoming hectic schedule.
Koln pair Kingsley Schindler and Elvis Rexhbecaj are both pushing for starting roles having come off the substitutes' bench last weekend.
Dusseldorf captain Oliver Fink may be in line to return to the squad after his recent absence due to quarantine regulations.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Horn; Ehizibue, Leistner, Bornauw, Schmitz; Skhiri, Hector; Kainz, Uth, Jakobs; Cordoba
Fortuna Dusseldorf possible starting lineup:
Kastenmeier; Suttner, Hoffmann, Jorgensen; Bodzek, Thommy, Berisha, Stoger, Zimmermann; Hennings, Karaman
We say: FC Koln 1-1 Fortuna Dusseldorf
With both teams having posted a draw on their return to action, we feel that a second successive share of the spoils could be on the cards this weekend. Although Koln are the marginal favourites, being held by Mainz on familiar territory will not fill them with any extra belief ahead of this contest.
Darren Plant
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 47.5%. A win for Fortuna Dusseldorf had a probability of 30.07% and a draw had a probability of 22.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a FC Koln win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (6.73%) and 2-0 (6.3%). The likeliest Fortuna Dusseldorf win was 1-2 (7.11%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.79%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 6.7% likelihood.
