Köln vs Hoffenheim Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Oct 22, 2015 @ 02:16 pm

Koln suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich whilst Hoffenheim continue to stare relegation in the face after a home defeat to fellow strugglers Hamburg at home.

It is always a huge task to try and take points off Bayern Munich and they frustrated their opponents for half an hour in the Allianz Arena but when they shipped the 1^st goal it was always going to be a question of how many for Munich. Koln tried to shut up shop again at 2-0 to try and keep the score down but eventually succumbed to a 4-0 defeat. It is the 2^nd time Koln have lost by 4 goals this season after losing to E.Frankfurt 6-2 back in September. Koln were the only team Munich hadn’t won at least 50% of their home matches against but unfortunately Peter Stoger’s side also have the unwanted record of not beating the team occupying 1^st spot in over 22 years in a Bundesliga game.

Hoffenheim couldn’t give the fans a first win of the season at home after suffering a 6^th defeat of the season. In the Friday night game, Adam Szalai was handed a first start of the season as they attempted to have a more physical presence upfront. However, it was a former Hoffenheim player for Hamburg that played a key role as Michael Gregoritsch had an influential role in the game and his energy eventually inspired Hamburg to an 88^th minute winner that had Hoffenheim fans questioning what is happening with the squad after they were pushing for a Europa League spot last season and why the Austrian midfielder was allowed to leave. The defeat saw Markus Gisdol relieved of his duties shortly after and has been replaced by Huub Stevens until the end of the season. Gisdol took charge in April 2013 and defied the odds to save them from relegation but despite respectable finishes of 9^th and 8^th in the following seasons, lying in 17^th this term and being knocked out to lower league opposition in the DFB Pokal has earned him his P45.

Hoffenheim scored 45 goals in 3 pre-season friendlies away from home and they’ll need to find their shooting boots against a Koln side that has conceded just 4 goals at home all season. Koln have edged the last two affairs by the odd goal in high scoring games whilst Hoffenheim haven’t beaten them in the Bundesliga since 2009. Eugen Polanski is the joint top assistor in the Bundesliga away from home with 3 assists. Anthony Modeste has 9 goals in all competitions this season but has gone back-to-back games without scoring for the first time this season.

Leonardo Bittencourt is the home side’s main loss as the winger missed the defeat to Bayern Munich and is a doubt for the visit of Hoffenheim. Ermin Bicakcic was given his marching orders in the second half for two bookable offences and he’ll now miss the trip to Koln through suspension. Kevin Volland also picked up his 5^th yellow card of the season and will also be missing which is an influential loss to new boss, Hubb Stevens. 

Koln

Stats: W-4 L-4 D-2

Recent Form – DWWLL

Hoffenheim

Stats: W-1 L-6 D-3

Recent Form – DWDLL

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Koln (4-4-2) – Horn, Olkowski, Sorensen, Heintz, Hector, Risse, Lehmann, Gerhardt, Vogt, Osako, Modeste.

Hoffenheim (4-4-2) – Baumann, Kadarek, Sule, Bicakcic, Toljan, Schwegler, Strobl, Polanski, Schmid, Szalai, Vargas.

Injury List/Suspended Players

Koln – Bittencourt (inj), Mavraj (inj)
Hoffenheim – Volland (sus), Bicakcic (sus), Zuber (inj)

League Positions