FC Koln will be hoping to win their first league game of the season when they host Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The visitors, meanwhile, have exceeded all pre-season expectations so far by winning four of their opening five matches.
Match preview
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Having qualified for the Europa Conference League by finishing seventh in Steffen Baumgart's first season in charge, Koln fell back into the mid-table pack when ending up in 11th position last time out, but they would have expected far better than a return of one point from five games this time around.
Despite David Selke firing them into a 1-0 lead moments after the half-hour mark away to Werder Bremen on Saturday, the hosts came from behind to inflict a fourth defeat in five matches on Baumgart's side, leaving them off the foot of the table on goal difference only.
Indeed, only Mainz 05 and newly promoted SV Darmstadt 98 have recorded as few points as the Billy Goats across the opening weeks of the campaign, with their only point coming from a 1-1 draw away to Eintracht Frankfurt earlier this month.
As such, Baumgart and his players are under huge pressure to deliver a positive result at RheinEnergieStadion this weekend, but that is unlikely to prove to be an easy task against a resurgent Stuttgart side.
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Indeed, having only survived relegation by defeating Hamburger SV in a two-legged playoff in June, very few people would have expected Stuttgart to amass 12 points from a possible 15 at this stage of the season.
Die Schwaben finished 15th in the 2021-22 campaign too, avoiding the prospect of a relegation playoff that time on goal difference only, so Sebastian Hoeness's main task for the current campaign will be staying away from relegation trouble altogether in order to provide a more stable environment for his players and fan base alike.
The former Hoffenheim boss certainly looks set to entertain his new fans, with only Bayern Munich bettering their tally of 17 goals from five matches, having already thrashed VfL Bochum and Freiburg by five goals to nil.
The only blemish on their copybook so far this season was conceding five goals themselves in a defeat to RB Leipzig, but they will head to Cologne on Saturday with plenty of confidence of racking up a fourth successive victory to continue this surprisingly excellent run of form.
Team News
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Koln will remain without Eric Martel, Mathias Olesen and Jan Thielmann due to injury, but Damion Downs should be able to shake off a cold after appearing from the bench during his side's defeat to Werder Bremen last time out.
Steffen Tigges and Sargis Adamyan will both be hoping to receive starting berths in attack after also being called upon from the bench in Bremen, but Baumgart is likely to stick with target man Selke given that he has scored in their last two games.
Stuttgart, meanwhile, will travel without Nikolas Nartey and Thomas Kastanaras due to injury, while Silas is a doubt after being withdrawn due to an ankle injury against Darmstadt in their most recent win.
Should the 24-year-old miss out as appears likely, former Brighton & Hove Albion forward Deniz Undav could be forced to play in an unfamiliar wider attacking role, with Serhou Guirassy continuing to expertly lead the line for the visitors having already hit double figures in the Bundesliga this season.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Hubers, Chabot, Paqarada; Huseinbasic, Kainz; Ljubicic, Waldschmidt, Maina; Selke
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Stenzel, Anton, Zagadou, Ito; Karazor, Stiller; Undav, Millot, Fuhrich; Guirassy
We say: FC Koln 1-2 Stuttgart
Stuttgart have been the surprise package of the Bundesliga so far this season, with Guirassy in unstoppable form, and we can envisage them continuing their impressive run of results with another victory this weekend.
Koln appear to be a team on a downwards trajectory, with Baumgart undoubtedly possessing an array of technically gifted midfielders, but they are perhaps lacking firepower in front of them to more effectively take games away from their opponents.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
