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Borussia Dortmund travel to the RheinEnergie Stadion on Saturday to face FC Koln in a Bundesliga clash as they continue their top-four chase.
Dortmund's recent upturn in form has seen them close the gap on Eintracht Frankfurt to just two points. With nine games to go in the season, it does look like the race for the top four could move towards a photo-finish.
Dortmund beat Hertha Berlin 2-0 last week as they bounced back from losing 4-2 to Bayern Munich in Der Klassiker the week before.
Julian Brandt and Youssoufa Moukoko scored goals for Dortmund in that win against Hertha.
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Koln, on the other hand, are just a point above the relegation zone and have not won any of their last five league games. In fact, they have picked up just a solitary point in those games. That poor run has seen them pulled back into the fight against relegation.
Last weekend, Koln lost 2-1 to Union Berlin after they had taken the lead through an Ondrej Duda penalty. Max Kruse and Christopher Trimmel scored in the second half for Union to condemn Koln to another defeat.
FC Koln vs Borussia Dortmund Head-to-Head
Dortmund have won 16 of the last 28 games they have played against Koln, with only five losses in that period.
Ellyes Skhiri scored twice at Signal Iduna Park in November as Koln won the reverse fixture 2-1.
FC Koln form guide: L-D-L-L-L
Borussia Dortmund form guide: W-D-L-W-W
FC Koln vs Borussia Dortmund Team News
FC Koln
Sebastiaan Bornauw and Florian Kainz are still injured and unlikely to play a part in this game. Jannes Horn has been suspended after an accumulation of yellow cards.
Injured: Sebastiaan Bornauw, Florian Kainz
Suspended: Jannes Horn
Borussia Dortmund
Axel Witsel is a long-term absentee for Dortmund. Jadon Sancho, Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, Mateu Morey and Raphael Guerreiro are also injured at the moment.
Injured: Axel Witsel, Marco Reus, Jadon Sancho, Mats Hummels, Raphael Guerreiro, Mateu Morey
Suspended: None
FC Koln vs Borussia Dortmund Predicted XIs
FC Koln Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Timo Horn; Jorge Mere, Sava-Arangel Cestic, Rafael Czichos; Marius Wolf, Ellyes Skhiri, Salih Ozcan, Jonas Hector; Elvis Rexhbecaj, Ondrej Duda; Emmanuel Dennis
Borussia Dortmund Predicted XI (4-3-3): Marvin Hitz; Thomas Meunier, Emre Can, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Nico Schulz; Jude Bellingham, Mahmoud Dahoud, Thomas Delaney; Julian Brandt, Thorgan Hazard, Erling Braut Haaland
FC Koln vs Borussia Dortmund Prediction
Koln are going through a wretched run of form that could see them dropped from the Bundesliga. Meanwhile, Dortmund have been on the up with positive recent results.
However, with the injuries that are affecting them, this might not be a cakewalk for Terzic's side. We expect Dortmund to take three points from this game in a narrow victory.
Prediction: FC Koln 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
