FC Cologne continue their push for a place in the European places as they host VfB Stuttgart on Saturday in the German Bundesliga. They have a solid home record and should have too much for Stuttgart, who have struggled to find their best form lately.
Cologne showed their character in their previous Bundesliga fixture as they twice came from behind to claim a 3-2 victory at Wolfsburg. Anthony Modeste scored a goal in each half while Mark Uth was also on target.
Sitting 10th on the table and just two points off the European places, Cologne will be keen to build some momentum in order to shoot up the table. They have suffered just one defeat in their last six Bundesliga matches.
At home is where Cologne often do their best work having lost just once on their own turf this season. Among their more impressive results at the RheinEnergieStadion is a 4-1 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach.
It has been a difficult season so far for Stuttgart, who are still struggling to find their best form. They have only shown flashes of their quality and their erratic performances has left them dangerously close to the relegation zone.
One result Stuttgart will be keen to put behind them is the 5-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich in their midweek Bundesliga fixture. It was a poor performance which will be particularly disappointing to manager Pellegrino Matarazzo, who had seen his team avoid defeat in their previous three matches.
Stuttgart’s away form also needs some improvement as they have claimed just one win on their travels this season. They have suffered some heavy defeats on the road, including a 4-0 thrashing at Leipzig while also losing 4-1 to Augsburg.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Cologne as favourites at 21/20 with novibet while a victory for Stuttgart is priced at 13/5 with SBK. Betway is offering odds of 3/1 for a draw.
Head to head
Cologne have a 36-31 advantage with 26 draws from 93 previous matches against Stuttgart. They have already beaten Stuttgart this season, claiming a 2-0 victory in the DFB Pokal in October.
Players to watch
Anthony Modeste is back among the goals following a short dry spell and will be the one to watch for Cologne. The striker netted a brace last time out to take his tally to 10 goals and is priced at 9/5 by Paddy Power to score anytime on Sunday.
Philipp Forster has carried much of Stuttgart’s attacking threat lately, scoring twice in his last three matches. Bet365 has the midfielder at odds of 3/1 to get on the score sheet on Sunday.
Anything else catch the eye?
There were over 3.5 goals in Cologne’s last fixture and a similar outcome is priced at 7/4 with BetVictor while over 2.5 goals could also be considered at 5/7 with 10bet. The hosts have opened the scoring in two of their last three home matches and could be tipped to score first at 20/27 with MansionBet.
Cologne and Stuttgart have found the net after the break in recent weeks and both teams can be backed to score in the second half at 15/8 with betfair.
This German Bundesliga match between FC Cologne and VfB Stuttgart will be played on Dec 19, 2021 and kick off at 16:30. Check below for our tipsters best FC Cologne vs VfB Stuttgart prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.