COLOGNE will be looking to avoid another late collapse when they face Fortuna Dusseldorf in the Rhine derby at the Rheinenergie Stadion on Sunday evening.
The Billy Goats were in brilliant form before the Bundesliga came to a halt, however, surrendering a two goal lead at home to Mainz last weekend could prove to be costly in Cologne's quest for European football.
Markus Gisdol's men will begin the latest round of fixtures in tenth-place just six points adrift of the final Europa League berth which is currently occupied by Wolfsburg.
If Cologne are to compete on the continent next term then they can ill-afford another slip-up when they play host to relegation-threatened Fortuna Dusseldorf this weekend.
The visitors enjoyed a successful return to the Bundesliga last season by registering a tenth-placed finish, however, this term has presented Die Flingeraner with a dose of “second season syndrome” as they currently occupy the relegation playoff spot.
Former Brentford, Leeds and Wigan boss Uwe Rosler took the reins at the turn of the year and last Saturday's stalemate at home to Paderborn sees the victors go into this battle having lost only one of their last seven league games.
The Betting Odds
The bookmakers expect Cologne to collect all three points this weekend with a home win odds-on at 5/6 with Betway.
Fortuna Dusseldorf have drawn five of their last seven league matches and a repeat on Sunday pays 29/10 with Ladbrokes, while an away win is an unfancied 16/5 with the same firm.
The Betting Angles
I cashed up by backing cards in Dusseldorf's meeting with Paderborn last weekend and given that this is the Rhine derby, coupled with the fact that these these two sides are the two most most ill-disciplined teams in the division, I'm expecting cards the Rheinenergie Stadion on Sunday.
At the time of writing most bookmakers have still to price up team card markets, however, both teams to collect 20+ booking points takes appeals at 4/5 (SkyBet) and Fortuna Dusseldorf to collect 30+ booking points are two bets that could be worth considering here given the rivalry as well as each sides respective card counts this season.
In front of goal it has been a tale of two season's for these foes with The Billy Goats games being goal-heavy, whereas Dusseldorf are the most shot-shy side the league having scored just 27 times in their 26 Bundesliga outings thus far.
Indeed, Rosler has steadied the ship, however, Die Flingeraner will be hard tasked when trying to tame attack-minded Cologne and a combination that I'm attracted to here is the 7/4 (PaddyPower) on offer for Cologne 1+ Goal, Cologne 5+ Corners and Dusseldorf 2+ Cards.
Markus Gisdol's men have scored at least once in their last 10 league games on home turf and Cologne games have pushed past the 11 corners per game mark on average this season.
When digging a little bit deeper it can be seen that the hosts are averaging over five corners per game, while the visitors corner against count is 5.24 per game – all of which adds to weight to siding with the above-mentioned punt with PaddyPower.
In considering who may get on the scoresheet here I am drawn towards the 6/4 (UniBet) that is available for Cologne's Jhon Cordoba to score anytime.
The Colombian forward has netted in seven of his last eight appearances at this venue and with 10 goals in 16 starts this term value could lie in backing Cordoba to find the back of the net against a fragile Fortuna Dusseldorf outfit.
This German Bundesliga match between FC Cologne and Fortuna Dusseldorf will be played on May 24, 2020 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best FC Cologne vs Fortuna Dusseldorf prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
