FC Koln vs Borussia Dortmund prediction, preview, team news and more

Borussia Dortmund will face FC Koln away from home in the Bundesliga this Sunday as they seek to stay in touch with league leaders Bayern Munich.

Marco Rose’s side are currently four points behind the Bavarians with only eight games to go. A late Axel Witsel goal against Mainz in their last outing helped them close the gap on Bayern Munich. Dortmund were far from their best against Mainz, as the hosts created some good openings but failed to put the ball past Gregor Kobel.

It’s not going to get any easier against Koln, who hope to secure European football next season. Steffen Baumgart’s side, who are seventh in the standings, picked up a gritty win against Bayer Leverkusen in their previous outing. They will be full of confidence against Dortmund.

FC Koln vs Borussia Dortmund Head-to-head

The head-to-head between the two teams is pretty even. Dortmund have won this fixture 50 times while Koln have managed 40 wins; there have been 33 stalemates.

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The last ten meetings between the two teams, though, have been pretty sombre for Koln, who have won just once and lost five times. That win came in November 2020 at the Signal Iduna Park.

FC Koln form guide (all competitions): W-L-D-W-L.

Borussia Dortmund form guide (all competitions): W-W-L-L-W.

FC Koln vs Borussia Dortmund Team News

FC Koln

Kingsley Schindler is expected to miss out due to personal reasons, while Florian Kainz and Jonas Hector might be unavailable due to COVID-19. Dejan Ljubicic and Tim Lemperle are also not expected to feature due to illness.

Injured: Ellyes Skhri.

Doubtful: Mark Uth.

Suspended: None.

Unavailable: Kingsley Schindler, Florian Kainz, Jonas Hector, Dejan Ljubicic, Tim Lemperle.

Borussia Dortmund

Marco Reus has been ruled out due to illness. Manager Marco Rose has said that the club will assess the trio of Jude Bellingham, Mats Hummels and Raphael Guerreiro, so their involvement is doubtful.

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Mateu Morey, Steffen Tigges and Thomas Meunier are still out injured, while Youssoufa Moukoko, Manuel Akanji, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Marcel Schmelzer are also not expected to feature.

Injured: Mateu Morey, Thomas Meunier, Manuel Akanji, Youssoufa Moukoko, Marcel Schmelzer, Steffen Tigges.

Doubtful: Jude Bellingham, Mats Hummels, Raphael Guerreiro. Dan-Axel Zagadou, Erling Haaland.

Unavailable: Marco Reus.

Suspended: Mahmoud Dahoud.

FC Koln vs Borussia Dortmund Predicted XIs

Koln (4-3-1-2): Timo Horn; Benno Schmitz, Luca Kilian, Timo Hubers, Jannes Horn; Salih Ozcan, Louis Schaub, Jan Thielmann; Ondrej Duda; Sebastian Andersson, Anthony Modeste.

Borussia Dortmund (4-2-3-1): Gregor Kobel; Nico Schulz, Emre Can, Marin Pongracic, Felix Passlack; Axel Witsel, Reinier; Thorgan Hazard, Giovanni Reyna, Marius Wolf; Donyell Malen.