FC Köln vs Hannover Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Oct 13, 2015 @ 01:46 pm

Koln have been one of the surprise packages of the season as they are as high as 5^th, sitting pretty in a Europa League spot. Their progression was highlighted no further than the 3-0 victory at 3^rd place Schalke in the last game before the international break that has emphasised their vast improvement. They’re unbeaten at home with 2 wins and 2 draws and have 2 victories on their travels this season which is a recipe for a successful season if you can maintain good home form whilst picking up points at other grounds.

Hannover meanwhile are in jealously of Koln’s success as they currently sit in 17^th.  For them the international break couldn’t have come at a worse time as they took 4 points from 2 games against Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen and they intelligently organised a friendly against Hildesheim during the break to keep the momentum going. The victory over Werder Bremen certainly took some of the pressure off Michael Frontzeck and had Ron-Robert Zieler to thank with a string of fine saves to give Hannover their first win of the season.

The Japanese fans will cast an eye over this game as two of their representatives will be featuring. Yuya Osako of Koln is a talented midfielder who scored in Round 1 of the Bundesliga. He suffered an injury that kept him out for a short period but since his return he has been a prominent figure in their starting line-up. For the away side, Hiroshi Kiyotake will feature and Hannover have welcomed their Japanese playmaker back from a metatarsal injury with open arms and he scored a stunning goal against Wolfsburg.

Anthony Modeste has been on fire for Koln with 8 goals in all competitions and looks to have found a club he has finally settled at after being regarded as a journeyman. Spells in France and England were cut short and the 6’1 striker then moved to German side Hoffenheim in 2013 and joined Koln this summer. If he continues his fine form he can be rest assured of a place amongst the ‘Billy Goats’ folklore.

Both sets of managers didn’t particularly have to worry about the international break with just a few players departing the club for their national duties. Mergim Mavraj has been missing for the entire season for Koln through injury and had recently been joined on the injury table by Dusan Svento but the left back played in both Slovakia’s Euro 2016 qualifiers and will return. Hannover aren’t quite so fortunate and have a number of players injured. Edgar Prib was used frequently for Hannover but an injury against Augsburg in September has kept him side lined since.

Koln

Stats: W-4 L-2 D-2

Recent Form - LWLDW

Hannover

Stats: W-1 L-5 D-2

Recent Form – LLLDW

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Koln (4-4-1-1) – Horn, Olkowski, Sorensen, Heintz, Hector, Risse, Lehmann, Gerhardt, Bittencourt, Osako, Modeste

Hannover (4-2-3-1) – Zieler, Sorg, Marcelo, Schulz, Miiko Albornoz, Schmiedebach, Sane, Andreasen, Kiyotake, Karaman, Sobiech.

Injury List/Suspended Players

Koln – Mavraj (inj)

Hannover – Prib (inj), Benschop (inj), Bech (inj), Ernst (inj), Sulejmani (inj).

League Positions