On Friday, starting with 19:30, the Stuttgart – Cologne match will be played, within the 5th round of the Bundesliga. Stuttgart has prevailed in the previous 3 direct matches, with a goal difference of 8-4. In the 2017/2018 Bundesliga season, the “Swabians” won 3-2 at Cologne and 2-1 at home, the “carp” relegated to Zweite at the end of that season, from last place.
Stuttgart, newly promoted to the Bundesliga, started the new season excellently and is ranked 5th with 7 points, 3 away from the leader Leipzig. After a defeat with Freiburg in the first stage, score 2-3 on their own field, the “Swabians” did not give up the initiative and constantly improved the game and the results. Thus, Stuttgart defeated Mainz 4-1 and Hertha 2-0, and with Leverkusen obtained a tie, score 1-1. Pellegrino Matarazzo’s students occupy the 4th place in a suture ranking this season, with an average of 15 per match, being surpassed only by Frankfurt, Leipzig and Bayern.
Koln has a series of 14 consecutive Bundesliga matches without victories, registering 5 draws and 9 defeats. The last result, 1-1 with Hoffenheim at home, recorded the 15th duel in the Bundesliga for “tapi” with at least one goal conceded. The group coached by Markus Gisdol has only one point in the first 4 stages and is ranked 16th, being surpassed only by Mainz and Schalke. However, Cologne has played only one trip so far, a defeat with another newly promoted team, Bielefeld, final score 0-1.
Stuttgart ranks 5th in the Bundesliga;
Only Hertha, Schalke and Mainz have conceded more goals than Cologne (8) this season;
Stuttgart has prevailed in the last 3 direct matches;
Stuttgart: Kobel – Stenzel, Karazor, Kempf – Silas, Mangala, Endo, Castro (c) – Didavi, Gonzalez – Kalajdzic
Absent: Anton, Awoudja, Mavropanos, Mola, Thommy
Coach: Pellegrino Matarazzo
Koln: T. Horn (c) – Ehizibue, Bornauw, Czichos, J. Horn – Skhiri, Rexhbecaj – Wolf, Duda, Jakobs – Andersson
Absent: Hector, Kainz
Coach: Markus Gisdol
PREDICTION: Stuttgart to win @ 2,08
