Soccer Germany Bundesliga Prediction

FC Koln vs Hertha Berlin - Match Preview

⚽ 12 May 2023 - 18:30 GMT +0

After a difficult season in the Bundesliga, Cologne secured their top-flight status with a 2-1 win at in-form Bayer Leverkusen last week. The Billy Goats are now left with very little to play for in the final weeks of the campaign, with their eight-point gap to the top-seven places meaning a push for the European spots looks beyond them at this late stage.

Remarkably, Cologne has failed to record back-to-back victories in the Bundesliga this term, a record manager Steffen Baumgart will want to put right for the visit of relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin to the RheinEnergieStadion. Yet a five-match winless run on home soil casts doubt over whether they’ll be able to earn three points here (D2, L3), especially given Cologne have failed to score in four of those outings.

Hertha arrive in the Carnival City after ending an eight-match winless run (D2, L6) with a 2-1 win over Stuttgart last time out that reignited their survival hopes. With just three rounds to go, Die Alte Dame sit three points adrift of the relegation play-off place, but history appears against them as only one team sitting bottom of the table at this stage has avoided the drop this century (Stuttgart 2014/15)!

If Hertha is to rewrite history, ending a miserable 12-match winless streak on the road in the Bundesliga is a necessity (D2, L10), and Pál Dárdai may have a hard time inspiring confidence amongst his players given they’ve won just one away match in the league all season! Off-field issues have plagued the club of late too, with reports emerging of financial trouble that could jeopardise their place in the top-flight even if they survive the drop.

📋 Players to watch: Cologne forward Davie Selke netted both goals in his side’s victory over Leverkusen, and he may come back to haunt his former employers here, given he’s netted four times in six H2H appearances (W4, D1, L1). Selke wasn’t the only forward on the move in January, and winter signing Florian Niederlechner netted for the first time in Hertha colours to seal victory over Stuttgart.

⚡ Hot stat: Hertha has scored the opening goal on the road in the Bundesliga just twice this season, but on both occasions, they went on to avoid defeat (W1, D1).