After a year in the second division, Schalke will open their Bundesliga campaign at Koln on Sunday. After the ignominy of going down as the bottom team in the 2020-21 season with just 16 points, Schalke had to reinvent themselves tactically as well as financially in the 2. Bundesliga.Null Vier won 2. Bundesliga and have added some young as well as experienced players to their squad over the summer. Koln, meanwhile, had a solid 2021-22 season, finishing in the European places. The Billy Goats will play in the Europa Conference League this season after finishing seventh in the league last time.1. FC Cologne@fckoeln_enCounting down until Sunday... 🤩____#BundesligaIsBack #FootballAsItsMeantToBe456Counting down until Sunday... 🤩____#BundesligaIsBack #FootballAsItsMeantToBe https://t.co/vlgwKfxPg7Their goal this year will be to better last season’s league finish. However, that'll be easier said than done, as they don’t have a the biggest of squads and have to deal with European football as well this time.Koln vs Schalke Head-to-headKoln have the head-to-head advantage over Schalke, with 17 wins. The Royal Blues have won this fixture 15 times, while 13 of their meetings have ended all square.Koln form guide (all competitions): W.Schalke form guide (all competitions): W.Koln vs Schalke Team NewsKolnTimo Hubers, Florian Dietz, Dimitrios Limnios and Mark Uth are expected to miss out for The Billy Goats.Injured: Timo Hubers, Florian Dietz, Dimitrios Limnios, Mark Uth.Doubtful: None.Suspended: None.Unavailable: None.SchalkeSimon Terodde trained after recovering from his muscle issue. However, a late decision will be made on his involvement in the game. It’s unlikely he will start. Danny Latza trained as well, but the game might come too soon for him.FC Schalke 04@s04_en Frank Kramer at the pre-match press conference: "We're really excited to finally get going after pre-season. It will be loud in Cologne. Everybody is raring to go and it's about time the season begun."#S0420💬 Frank Kramer at the pre-match press conference: "We're really excited to finally get going after pre-season. It will be loud in Cologne. Everybody is raring to go and it's about time the season begun."#S04 https://t.co/hLyXYBfQzWInjured: None.Doubtful: Simon Terodde, Danny Latza.Unavailable: None.Suspended: NoneKoln vs Schalke Predicted XIsKoln: Marvin Schwabe; Benno Schmitz, Luca Kilian, Julian Chabot, Jonas Hector; Ellyes Skhiri, Linton Maina, Dejan Ljubicic, Florian Kainz; Anthony Modeste, Sargis Adamyan.Schalke: Alexander Schwolow; Cedric Brunner, Maya Yoshida, Marcin Kaminski, Thomas Ouwejan; Tom Krauss, Alex Kral, Rodrigo Zalazar, Tobias Mohr; Dominic Drexler, Sebastian Polter.Koln vs Schalke PredictionThe two teams have different targets for the season but will want to get off to a winning start. Koln will start as the favourites in front of their home fans, but Schalke did well in pre-season and could come away with a point.Prediction: Koln 1-1 Schalke.