Second-bottom FC Koln welcome Freiburg to RheinEnergieStadion on Saturday in gameweek 32 in the Bundesliga.
The home side are seven points from safety and realistically need maximum points from their final three games this term to have a shot at beating the drop, but that will be tested against the Europe-chasing visitors.
Match preview
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Koln missed a chance to close the gap on third-bottom Mainz last weekend, as they could only manage a draw at the home of the 05ers.
That result means the Billy Goats stay five points behind the 16th-placed side with three games remaining, and they could come to rue Luca Waldschmidt's 48th-minute penalty miss in the relegation six-pointer.
The Cologne-based club have struggled for wins this term, underscored by their four victories after 31 games outdoing only relegated Darmstadt's three.
With Timo Schultz's troops unable to claim maximum points regularly, it explains why the Billy Goats are ranked second-bottom and why losing their top-flight status is anticipated at the season's culmination.
Losing four of their last five on home soil does not inspire much confidence in supporters, who have seen their team fire blanks in three of those games — against Werder Bremen (1-0), Bayer Leverkusen (2-0) and Darmstadt (2-0) — pointing to another disappointment on Saturday.
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It remains to be seen if Freiburg all but seal Koln's relegation to the second tier, especially as the away side have been given a reason to stay motivated for the remainder of 2023-24.
Borussia Dortmund's Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain hands Germany an extra spot in next season's competition, meaning an additional continental qualification place will go to the seventh-placed Bundesliga side, currently occupied by Freiburg.
Christian Streich's men will have to battle to remain in that Europa Conference League qualification spot given that every team from eighth to 11th have a chance of supplanting them in the standings — Augsburg and Hoffenheim are a point behind and Heidenheim and Werder Bremen are three adrift.
The Breisgau Brazilians will back themselves to improve their chances of ending there given a commendable sequence of away results that has seen them claim three straight triumphs on their travels — at Bochum (2-1), Borussia Monchengladbach (3-0) and Darmstadt (1-0).
With Freiburg also travelling to Union Berlin on the final day of the season, the outgoing Streich may prefer road games to fixtures on home turf — they are winless in seven matches in front of their fans — keen to depart by securing a continental place.
Team News
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Dejan Ljubicic and Leart Paqarada are doubtful for Koln because of illness; Justin Diehl (muscular), Luca Kilian (knee) and Davie Selke (metatarsal) are not expected to play any part on Saturday.
Florian Kainz and Faride Alidou have netted four times each for the second-bottom side, and they hope to come up trumps with the club's top-flight status under genuine threat.
Kiliann Sildillia received a straight red in Freiburg's loss to Wolfsburg last weekend, ruling out the defender against the Billy Goats. Nicolas Hofler is also suspended after receiving his fifth booking of 23-24 in the defeat by Ralph Hasenhuttl's men.
Matthias Ginter (Achilles), Daniel-Kofi Kyereh (knee), Philipp Lienhart (knee), Merlin Rohl (thigh) and Kenneth Schmidt (abdominal) are all expected to miss this weekend's game due to injury issues.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Hubers, Chabot, Finkgrafe; Martel, Huseinbasic; Thielmann, Kainz, Alidou; Tigges
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Kubler, Keitel, Gulde; Doan, Sallai, Eggestein, Gunter; Holer, Grifo; Gregoritsch
We say: FC Koln 1-2 Freiburg
Apart from Streich's impressive record against Koln — 12 wins in 17 — Freiburg's three-match winning sequence on their travels and the Billy Goats' form of four losses in five home matches make the visitors undoubted favourites to nick maximum points in Cologne this weekend.
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