Borussia Dortmund vs Cologne

Borussia Dortmund’s bid to rise from the ruins of 2022/23 starts at Signal Iduna Park as they entertain Cologne in their opening 2023/24 league fixture.

After missing out on a golden opportunity to end Bayern Munich’s long-term dominance in the Bundesliga last season, Borussia Dortmund paid the price as standout midfielder Jude Bellingham left the club to join Real Madrid. A nightmarish 2-2 draw on the final weekend left the door open for Bayern to swoop in and steal the title away, which they did. Seeking a fresh start, ‘Die Borussen’ will find comfort in opening their last eight Bundesliga seasons with a win. Adding to Dortmund’s confidence, they’ve emerged victorious in four of their five most recent league meetings with Cologne (L1). Three of those five fixtures have featured over 3.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet, highlighting the potential for a high-scoring curtain-raiser at Signal Iduna Park.

Meanwhile, visiting Cologne needed extra time to overcome second-tier VfL Osnabruck in the DFB-Pokal earlier this week (3-1), giving manager Steffen Baumgart less time to rest and prepare his players for this trip. Cologne cannot possibly be happy about starting the new season away to Dortmund, where they’ve lost four of their last five Bundesliga matches (W1), not to mention conceded 5+ goals on three occasions. But the ‘Billy Goats’ went from strength to strength on the road toward the end of last season, stitching together four consecutive away league games without losing (W3, D1). Interestingly, each win in that run saw them concede precisely once, suggesting the attack may need to inspire Cologne to an unlikely success here.