Stuttgart vs Cologne

MHPArena is the venue as Stuttgart and Cologne lock horns in a lopsided Bundesliga showdown.

Despite falling to ten men on the stroke of halftime, Stuttgart maintained their dream Bundesliga campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 win against bottom-half strugglers Darmstadt last time out. Sebastian Hoeness’ side finished the previous round in third, six points clear of fifth-placed RB Leipzig, and now return to home turf confident of extending a four-match winning league streak. MHPArena has been Stuttgart’s safe shelter this term, as evidenced by their formidable home record in the Bundesliga (W9, D1, L1). That increases the likelihood of a fourth win in their last five top-flight encounters against Cologne (D1) and, in turn, their first league double over this opposition since 2017/18. Considering they’ve held Cologne at bay in their last three Bundesliga H2Hs, the division’s third-best frontline (51 goals scored) may have to strike only once to win it.

In the meantime, Cologne’s woeful 2023/24 campaign hit a new low last weekend as a 1-0 home loss to Werder Bremen left them stranded in the bottom three, six points adrift of safety. It’s been an underwhelming start to the new calendar year for the Billy Goats (W1, D3, L2), with five of those six games featuring under 2.5 goals. Visiting manager Timo Schultz won’t mind another low-scoring contest if it means increasing his team’s chances of arresting a four-match winless league streak on the road (D2, L2). It’s probably Cologne’s only chance of taking three points, considering they’ve been terminally unable to score goals away from home, netting just six on 11 Bundesliga travels this season. For that matter, the visitors have failed to find the net in ten league matches!