Both teams will be aiming to bring their losing streaks to an end when FC Koln host Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga's Saturday evening clash.
Koln lost three successive matches to drop to 13th in the table prior to the World Cup, while Bremen clung onto a top-half position despite losing two games in a row.
Match preview
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After finishing seventh in Steffen Baumgart's first season at the club, the current campaign has been a little underwhelming in comparison for Koln so far.
Their first European expedition for five seasons ended prematurely by crashing out of the group stage in the Europa Conference League, while they were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal on penalties by Jahn Regensburg in the first round.
As such, Baumgart's sole focus for the rest of the season will be ensuring that his side are not dragged into a relegation battle, with only three points separating them from the dreaded dotted lines after enduring a poor run of form prior to the World Cup.
The former Paderborn boss will be more than confident that he has enough quality within his ranks to steer the club away from any potential danger, but hitting the ground running against a newly-promoted team on Saturday would undoubtedly do him and his players the world of good.
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Having only returned to the Bundesliga this season, with Ole Werner guiding the club back to the top tier at the first attempt after joining from Holstein Kiel in November 2021, Bremen have performed significantly above expectations.
Although defeats against Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig prior to the World Cup saw Die Werderaner's momentum and league position take a small hit, sitting in the top half of the table at almost the halfway stage of the season is more than anyone connected to the club could realistically have hoped for.
Niclas Fullkrug, who was a surprise star for Germany in Qatar, has been a major part of their success with an impressive tally of 10 goals in 14 league games, with Bremen earning plenty of plaudits from neutrals for their attacking style of football and never-say-die attitude helping them achieve plenty of dramatic comebacks throughout the campaign so far.
Whether Werner will be able to rely on both of those aspects continuing at the same rate between now and May remains to be seen, but ultimately finishing comfortably clear of the relegation spots would be an impressive return, so he will be keen to put more distance between themselves and the bottom three with a positive result in Cologne this weekend.
Team News
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Koln's injury list shows few signs of easing up despite not playing a competitive match for more than two months, with Sebastian Andersson, Jan Thielmann, Kristian Pedersen, Luca Kilian, Mark Uth, Dimitrios Limnios, Tim Lemperle and Florian Dietz all unlikely to feature for several weeks.
Marvin Schwabe and Sargis Adamyan have also been suffering with illness in recent times, but both could be available to be named in Baumgart's matchday squad this weekend.
Bremen, meanwhile, will travel without Romano Schmid (knee), Oliver Burke (thigh) and Felix Agu (patella), while Amos Pieper is touch and go due to an ankle issue, which he picked up against Leipzig in his side's last competitive outing.
Fullkrug and Marvin Ducksch will almost certainly lead the visitors' line together, with Werner hoping that the duo can pick up where they left off prior to the former star announcing himself on the world stage for Germany.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Hubers, Chabot, Hector; Skhiri, Martel; Ljubicic, Duda, Kainz; Tigges
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Pavlenka; Pieper, Veljkovic, Friedl; Weiser, Bittencourt, Gross, Schmid, Jung; Fullkrug, Ducksch
We say: FC Koln 1-2 Werder Bremen
With Koln still missing several important players through injury, we can envisage the visitors picking up an important away win this weekend.
Fullkrug and Ducksch can cause any opponents issues in transition on their day, with the former likely to be full of confidence after scoring against Spain at the World Cup.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
