Holstein Kiel hold a slim advantage as they welcome Cologne to Holstein-Stadion for the second leg of their German Bundesliga playoff. The hosts already showed their quality in the first leg and should once again have the edge in another tight contest.
A stellar defensive display saw Holstein Kiel claim a 1-0 victory over Cologne in the first leg of their Bundesliga playoff. Substitute Simon Lorenz scored the only goal midway through the second half as they beat back a number of attacks to secure the win.
Holstein Kiel have shown themselves to be giant killers this season having knocked Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich out of DFB Pokal. They head into Saturday’s clash with six wins from their last seven home matches.
Manager Ole Werner likes his team to keep things tight at the back and Holstein Kiel finished with the best defensive record in the 2 Bundesliga. They have also kept clean sheets in five of their last seven home matches.
Cologne will be feeling disappointed after the defeat in the first leg. They dominated possession and created a few chances but generally struggled to break down a stubborn Holstein Kiel defence.
Wednesday’s defeat was a continuation of Cologne’s poor showing in the final weeks of the regular season as they have now claimed just one win from their last four matches. Friedhelm Funkel’s men are also poor travellers and have lost five of their last seven away matches.
Cologne are not the most prolific team and already struggled to get past a solid Holstein Kiel defence in the first leg. A similar pattern is expected on Saturday but with the Bundesliga club likely to once again play on the front foot, they may leave themselves exposed at the back.
How the bookies view it
Cologne are favourites among the bookies with betway offering 6/5 for an away win. A victory for Holstein Kiel is valued at 13/5 by Vbet while novibet is offering 51/29for a draw.
Holstein Kiel’s solid defence and fine record at Holstein-Stadion gives them the edge here and I am leaning towards a slim home win.
Head to head
There have been three previous matches involving Holstein Kiel and Cologne with both teams claiming one win each and a draw. The most recent meeting was Wednesday's first leg which ended 1-0 in favour of Holstein Kiel.
Players to watch
Holstein Kiel favour the defensive side of the game with Hauke Wahl and Marco Komenda the preferred centre back pairing. They have already shut out Cologne in the first leg and will be confident of another clean sheet at 14/5 betway.
While Holstein Kiel are likely to be conservative on Saturday, they still have quality going forward and can hit Cologne on the break. Midfielder Fin Bartels and Janni-Luca Serra combined for 24 goals in the regular season and can ensure the hosts score on Saturday at 4/11 with William Hill.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Holstein Kiel often solid at the back and Cologne profligate in attack, Saturday’s clash is not expected to produce too many goals. Under 2.5 goals could be worth a punt at 19/20 with Unibet.
Both teams could be backed to not score at 13/11 with SBK while there are unlikely to be goals in both halves at 11/10 with Paddy Power.
This German Bundesliga match between Holstein Kiel and Cologne will be played on May 29, 2021 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Holstein Kiel vs Cologne prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
