Stuttgart vs Cologne

Hot Bundesliga relegation candidates Stuttgart take a trip to the RheinEnergieStadion to take on underperforming Cologne in a must-win league encounter.

Cologne overhauled a 2-1 first-leg deficit at home by dismantling Hungarian outfit MOL Fehervar 3-0 on the road to book their place in the Europa Conference League group stages. A well-deserved victory on foreign soil helped Cologne arrest an underwhelming three-match winless streak across all competitions (D2, L1) and bolster their spirits ahead of this fixture. Last season, the ‘Billy Goats’ celebrated their first Bundesliga home victory over Stuttgart since 2000, curtailing an abysmal run of 11 league H2Hs without winning at the RheinEnergieStadion (D5, L6). Cologne’s three-fixture unbeaten start to the new top-flight season for the first time since 2016/17 (W1, D2) has masked the club’s ongoing defensive issues. Indeed, you’d have to go back to mid-March for their last clean sheet in the Bundesliga, suggesting Stuttgart forwards could have a field day this weekend.

Scoring may not be at the top of Stuttgart’s problems at the moment, considering they’ve scored in all three Bundesliga outings this season (D2, L1). However, the visitors head into this matchday as the only current Bundesliga side yet to register a single top-flight victory in 2022, explaining why they are assessing the prospect of sacking under-fire manager Pellegrino Matarazzo. Their disastrous run of 11 consecutive Bundesliga travels without winning (D6, L5) fuels talks of Matarazzo’s potential departure from the bench. But there’s still a glimmer of hope that Stuttgart can overcome a long-lasting crisis, given that ‘Die Schwaben’ have amassed two wins from their last three league meetings with Cologne (L1).