Borussia Dortmund vs Cologne

Borussia Dortmund and Cologne will face-off against each other at Signal Iduna Park in an intriguing Bundesliga encounter.

Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga title bid got some legs last time out as their comprehensive 3-1 away win to Arminia Bielefeld stretched their winning league run to three and kept them a point away from top-placed Bayern Munich. Odds-on favorites to claim all three points here and maintain their title push, ‘Die Borussen’ are on course of equalling the club’s longest-ever winning Bundesliga home streak (12). They’ve won each of their last nine league matches at Signal Iduna Park, scoring 2+ goals on each occasion. That should set Dortmund up nicely here as they look to inflict revenge on Koln after failing to beat this opposition in both last season’s league duels (D1, L1). Indeed, a 2-1 defeat in his exact fixture back in November 2020 marked Borussia’s first H2H home defeat in the Bundesliga since 1991 (W16, D4 in between).

On the other hand, since winning two of their inaugural three Bundesliga fixtures this term (L1), Cologne have blown hot and cold in Germany’s top-flight (W1, D4, L1). Though they are still just four points below fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen, Cologne’s defensive woes that have seen them fail to keep a clean sheet in all nine Bundesliga outings this term could decrease their hopes of closing that gap. Moreover, ‘Die Geißböcke’ have yet to win a top-flight match away from home this season (D2, L2), conceding 3+ goals in each defeat in that sequence. Significantly more vulnerable beyond half-time, Steffen Baumgart’s men have registered 80% of their away Bundesliga goals conceded this term in the second half of play (8/10).