Bundesliga – Match-day 14 Sees FC Köln take on Bayer Leverkusen
Cologne at home against Bayer – Wednesday – 6:30pm GMT – The Rhein Energie Stadion.
Cologne, currently sitting twelfth, host fourteenth placed Bayer on Wednesday.
FC Köln’s Bundesliga season, has so far seen them gain 17 points, going into this game
Cologne will hope to increase their wins in a row, having secured a 2-0 victory over SC Freiburg in their last match.
Also, Cologne have now lost three of their last five games, a worrying statistic that has to be addressed by Manager Steffen Baumgart. Now they have 4 matches won, 4 games lost and 5 duels drawn; that’s why they currently sit in twelfth place, with a total of 17 points having won four matches, drawn five meetings, and lost four games.
When Cologne host Bayer, they will do so on the back of three wins, two draws, and one losses on their own ground.
Winning this fixture will see FC Köln on 20 points.
Good Attacking Performance
Cologne will be pleased to have a good goal scoring record so far this season (20). This has been largely down to the key attacking players: Florian Kainz (5), Steffen Tigges (3), and Benno Erik Schmitz (2). Cologne have shown a poor defensive performance so far, having conceded 25 goals in their previous fixtures.
Steffen Baumgart will be forced to make changes to the plans for his squad, as injury or illness has depleted him of seven of his Cologne players.
Bayer Leverkusen go into this meeting with 12 points secured
Following two straight wins for Bayer in their most recent games, they will be keen to continue that form going into this fixture.
Also, suffering seven losses in 13 fixtures is a terrible run of form for any club, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer will know this and will be hopeful of turning it around. With 12 points, they currently sit fourteenth in the League. The breakdown for the team’s record is 3 wins, 7 losses and 3 draws having won three meetings, drawn three matches, and lost seven games.
With a poor record on the road, which amounts to one victory, one draw, and four defeat, it is hard to predict a positive outcome for Bayer as they travel once more.
Victory for Bayer Leverkusen would take their points tally to 15 so far this season.
Good Attacking Performance
They have a good scoring stats of 21 goals. This is largely down to the efforts of their stand-out attackers – Jeremie Frimpong (5), Moussa Diaby (4), and Kerem Demirbay (3). Teams that leak goals on a consistent basis, don’t tend to win anything, such is the situation with Bayer so far, having conceded 25 goals in their last games so far.
Bayer’s ever growing list of players missing due to injury or illness to be a concern for Xabi Alonso, ahead of this Wednesday’s fixture against their opponents.
FC Köln v Bayer Leverkusen – Head-to-Head.
Regarding their historical duels the recent form between these two sides has seen Bayer with a greater number of wins. In the last 42 meetings, they have enjoyed 22 victories, to Cologne’s nine wins. Also, the last 20 games against Bayer have resulted in eleven wins for Cologne. March 2022 was the most recent time these two clashed in this competition and Bayer Leverkusen took all three points winning 0-1 away.
Other standout players for Cologne are Florian Kainz and Steffen Tigges with five goals both and for Bayer are Moussa Diaby and Kerem Demirbay with four goals and three goals respectively.
