FC Koln will be aiming to maintain their unbeaten record since returning from the World Cup when they host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Frankfurt, meanwhile, are unbeaten in seven league games themselves as they look to move into the Champions League qualification positions.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having only gained one point from their last five matches before the World Cup began in Qatar in November, Koln have returned to action in much better shape, picking up six points from an unbeaten run of four matches.
An astonishing 7-1 victory against Werder Bremen has been reinforced by impressive draws against Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, with perhaps the only blemish on their copybook coming from a 0-0 draw away to rock-bottom Schalke 04.
Indeed, Steffen Baumgart's side were involved in a second successive goalless draw when sharing the spoils against Leipzig at RheinEnergieStadion last weekend, with the hosts failing to register a single shot on target during a scrappy encounter.
As such, while Baumgart will be happy with the improvement from his defensive unit, the 51-year-old will be hoping to see at least one of his attackers get themselves on the scoresheet to provide their 50,000-capacity crowd with a moment of jubilation on Sunday.
© Reuters
That may not come easily against Frankfurt, though, whose season continues to go from strength to strength after earning two home wins within the past week.
Die Adler comfortably dispatched a struggling Hertha Berlin side 3-0 at Deutsche Bank Park last Sunday, with Randal Kolo Muani displaying his continued improvement since enjoying a fine World Cup with France by scoring his third and fourth goals in his side's three league games.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, Oliver Glasner's side came from behind against second division leaders SV Darmstadt 98 to win 4-2 and reach the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal, before they host Napoli in the first leg of their first ever Champions League knockout tie later this month.
In the meantime, though, Glasner will be hoping his side can boost their top four credentials by beating Koln and Werder in their next two Bundesliga fixtures, but they may require an improved performance on Sunday compared to recent away trips having drawn each of their last three league games on the road 1-1.
Team News
© Reuters
Given Koln's extended injury list at present, Baumgart is doing a sterling job to keep his side away from relegation danger. Sebastian Andersson, Florian Dietz, Luca Kilian, Dimitrios Limnios, Kristian Pedersen and Mark Uth are all ruled out of Sunday's clash, while David Selke is unlikely to recover from a knee issue.
Providing Dejan Ljubicic recovers from a recent illness as expected, Koln are unlikely to make any changes from the side which held Leipzig to a draw last time out.
Frankfurt, meanwhile, will travel without Jesper Lindstrom after the attacking midfielder suffered a hip strain against Hertha last weekend. Lindstrom is unlikely to be available for first-team action until early March, with Eric Dina Ebimbe's ankle injury set to keep him out until early April.
Glasner only made two changes for his side's win against Darmstadt in the DFB-Pokal in midweek, with Djibril Sow likely to replace Rafael Santos Borre against Koln, meaning a more offensive midfield role for Daichi Kamada.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Hubers, Chabot, Hector; Skhiri, Martel; Maina, Ljubicic, Kainz; Tigges
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hasebe, Ndicka; Buta, Rode, Sow, Max; Kamada, Gotze; Muani
We say: FC Koln 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
With Frankfurt drawing each of their last three away matches in the Bundesliga 1-1, it is hard to envisage a different scoreline in Cologne on Sunday.
The hosts should be much fresher having not played in midweek, especially with Frankfurt only making two changes to their starting XI (one of which was enforced after Lindstrom's injury). A share of the spoils would not represent a bad result for either team.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
