Bundesliga – Hertha to face FC Köln on Match-day 15

This Saturday sees Hertha go head to head with Cologne at the Olympiastadion – Kick-off 3:30pm GMT.

Hertha, currently struggling in sixteenth place, will face the challenge of a visiting, twelfth placed Cologne.

Hertha have 11 points to their name, going into this tie

Hertha will be buoyant, following a 2-1 away win against Stuttgart in their last fixture.

Also, some statistics are more relevant than others they say, and three losses for Hertha seems very relevant. They currently stand sixteenth in the League, with 11 points for a total of 2 wins, 7 losses and 5 draws having won two games, drawn five fixtures, and lost seven matches.

Hertha have won one game, drawn four meetings, and lost two meetings of their seven League matches at home this season.

Hertha will see 14 points so far this season, should they secure a win.

Hertha may have to resort to second choice players, given the number of first choice players that are now unavailable through injury, illness or suspension.

FC Köln’s Bundesliga season, has so far seen them gain 17 points, going into this game

Cologne must take a positive approach to this game, if they are to get anything out of, following their recent defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at Rheinenergiestadion.

Also, league success is all about winning football matches, any way you can, so four losses in six matches would not make this a successful season for Cologne. With 17 points, they currently sit twelfth in the League. The breakdown for the team’s record is 4 wins, 5 losses and 5 draws having won four matches, drawn five games, and lost five fixtures.

Cologne have had a disappointing run of performances on the road, having won one game, drawn three meetings, and lost three meetings of their seven League matches away from home this season.

A victory for FC Köln would put them on 20 points.

Good Attacking Performance

Cologne will be pleased to have a good goal scoring record so far this season (21). This season, their stand-out attacking players have been Florian Kainz (5), Benno Erik Schmitz (3), and Steffen Tigges (3). Teams that leak goals on a consistent basis, don’t tend to win anything, such is the situation with Cologne so far, having conceded 27 goals in their last matches so far.

It is likely that seven key players will miss Saturday’s fixture, which is something of a concern for Steffen Baumgart and his Cologne team.

Hertha v FC Köln – Head-to-Heads.

Regarding their historical duels Hertha and Cologne have faced each other 34 times in the past, with the balance of wins sitting in Hertha’s favour (17 – 11). In addition, eleven of the previous 19 fixtures between Hertha and Cologne have resulted in a Hertha win. Their most recent encounter in this competition FC Köln secured a 1-3 away win.

Performance Report

For Hertha, Dodi Lukebakio, one of their best scorers, has nettedseven goals in 14 League matches this campaign, while Florian Kainz is a top performing player who has scoredfive goals in 14 League games this Bundesliga Season for Cologne.

Other players of note for Hertha are Dodi Lukebakio and Suat Serdar with seven goals each and for Cologne are Benno Erik Schmitz and Steffen Tigges with three goals and three goals respectively.