Hertha BSC vs. FC Köln: Two sides in need of a victory
Hertha BSC will look to record their third victory of the Bundesliga season when they face an FC Köln side who are winless in four league games.
| Photo: Шапаев М Рыбин К Евдокимов В, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Hertha BSC
Hertha are currently sat in the relegation playoff place after losing their last three matches.
They were only seconds away from picking up a point against Stuttgart last weekend when Dodi Lukébakio cancelled out Sehrou Guirassy's opener, but Konstantinos Mavropanos managed to find a winner in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
As a result of the 2-1 defeat, Hertha are now three points adrift of Stuttgart, who sit just outside the bottom three.
Although they have won only one of their home league games this term, Hertha have proven to be a tough team to beat, drawing four of their seven home matches in the Bundesliga.
They have also scored at least two goals in four of their last five games at the Olympiastadion, although they have struggled defensively, with Hertha still looking for their first home clean sheet of the season.
Team News
The hosts are unable to call upon the services of Márton Dárdai, Dong-jun Lee, Stevan Jovetic due to injuries, while Jessic Ngankam and Kelian Nsona are also ruled out.
FC Köln
Köln have only picked up one point from their last four league games, and they will try to avoid a third consecutive defeat this weekend.
Steffen Baumgart's side took the lead through Benno Schmitz in their Rhinederby meeting against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday. However, second half goals from Nadiem Amiri and Moussa Diaby completed the turnaround to secure Leverkusen a 2-1 win.
The defeat leaves the visitors in 12th place with six points separating them from the bottom three, while they are eight points adrift of the top six.
Their recent away form suggests Köln will have their work cut out to record a positive result. They have lost their last three away league games, conceding 12 goals and only scoring twice.
They can at least draw inspiration from the fact that they are unbeaten in their last three away games against Hertha in the Bundesliga.
Team News
Sebastian Andersson, Florian Dietz and Tim Lemperle will miss out due to injury issues. The visitors are also without the services of Dejan Ljubicic, Mark Uth and Schmitz, while Timo Hübers is a doubt.