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Top of the table, stellar opening day performance, loads of attacking promise and a solid defence in their opening game. Borussia Dortmund go into the second gameweek of the Bundesliga as strong favourites against FC Koln, who lost their opening fixture to Wolfsburg.
Newly-promoted side FC Koln will be hoping to cause an upset against Lucien Favre's Dortmund, but hopes will be bleak after the poor opening result. Koln put up a semblance of a fight but couldn't provide much of a goal threat against Wolfsburg and it's unlikely that it will change against Dortmund.
Marco Reus and co will be raring to go once again as a win against FC Koln will most likely maintain their place at the top of the table, and perhaps, more importantly, preserve the two-point gap over Bayern Munich, piling the pressure on them.
The opening day performances, history against each other, quality in the squad and experience of the managers all indicate that on paper, Dortmund should win this game by a large margin. But the game isn't played on paper and Koln will be fired up in front of their home crowd having returned to the Bundesliga.
Kickoff Information
Date: 24 August 2019
Time: 12:00 AM
Venue: RheinEnergieStadion
Referee: N/A
Live Stream: Hotstar
Form Guide
The last five fixtures including friendlies
FC Koln: W-L-L-W-L
Borussia Dortmund: W-W-W-W-W
Head to Head
FC Koln: 2
Borussia Dortmund: 11
Draw: 5
Key Players
FC Koln - Jhon Cordoba
The Colombian international striker was missing in action for FC Koln through suspension in the first game. Coach Achim Beierlorzer claimed that he is due to play his role against Dortmund. Cordoba displays immense pace on the break and can be key to Koln's bid for points against Dortmund.
Borrusia Dortmund - Axel Witsel
The Belgian is growing in stature at Dortmund. He played the role of defensive lynchpin when called upon and has consistently provided good link-up play. He's set to be more involved in attacking play this season precisely in games against smaller opposition, like FC Koln. Having been involved in two goals in the opening win, expect Witsel to be central to everything Dortmund do on matchday 2.
Key Match Facts
FC Koln have failed to keep a clean sheet in the last 8 meetings against Borussia Dortmund, conceding a total of 18 goals in those games. The last time Dortmund didn't score against FC Koln was back in 2006.
Borussia Dortmund are unbeaten in five games against FC Koln (in the Bundesliga), they drew 3 of those fixtures and completed the double over them in 2017/18.
