German Bundesliga - Augsburg vs. Cologne - Preview & Prediction

by Valdis Pans

Five defeats in their past seven contests bring 13th-placed Augsburg to a domestic clash against 12th-placed Cologne, who have dropped two consecutive decisions. Kick-off - at 12:00 noon ET on Sunday, June 7.

Augsburg Lose In Berlin

Augsburg lost for the first time in their last three contests (W1 D1 L1) after dropping a 2-0 decision against in-form Hertha Berlin away at Olympiastadion on Saturday. Failing to get on the scoreboard for the fifth time on their past six travels and for the third in their last five outings overall, Die Fuggerstadter managed to record just three shots on goal, with half-time substitute Marco Richter responsible for two of them. Augsburg have now lost five of their previous seven matches (W1 D1 L5), sitting 13th in the Bundesliga with a W8 D7 L14 record, just four points above the drop-zone.

German forward Florian Niederlechner tops Augsburg’s scoring table with 11 markers this season, but has gone without a goal for nine straight league matches. Goalie Andreas Luthe, meanwhile, sits 26th in the Bundesliga with 17 saves, having picked up two clean sheets in six appearances this year. He allows a goal every 77 minutes on average. Die Fuggerstadter have scored the 10th highest number of goals so far this term (40), while taking the absolute lowest quantity of shots per game (10.7). The team is dead last in both ball possession (40.7%) and passing accuracy (69.8%).

Cologne Drop Second In Row

A second consecutive defeat came about for Cologne, who followed up their 3-1 away loss at Hoffenheim on May 27 with a 4-2 home fiasco at the hands of RB Leipzig at RheinEnergieStadion on Monday. Jhon Cordoba opened the scoring just seven minutes into the contest before being taken off with a knee injury 17 minutes later, with the visitors netting the following three markers ahead of a second-half strike by Anthony Modeste, who reduced the Red Bulls’ lead to 3-2, only for Leipzig to bury their fourth strike of the night moments later. The Billy Goats were unbeaten for five games (W3 D2) ahead of their current skid and sit 12th in the Bundesliga (W10 D4 L15), seven points above the bottom-three.

With 12 markers collected thus far in the league this year, Colombian marksman Cordoba leads Cologne in scoring. He has picked up three snipes and two assists in his five encounters with Augsburg. Goalie Timo Horn, meanwhile, occupies the 9th place in the Bundesliga with 77 saves. He has posted six clean sheets in 29 appearances this season and concedes a goal every 47 minutes on average. The Billy Goats have netted the 7th highest quantity of goals this year (46), while registering the 9th highest number of shots per game (13.1). They are 12th in both ball possession (47.5%) and passing accuracy (76.9%).

Prediction

Only three points separate Augsburg and Cologne in the Bundesliga standings at the moment, with both sitting next to each other in 13th and 12th places respectively. Their head-to-head escapades over the past few years have been similarly close, with four of the previous six and five of the last eight meetings finishing undecided, as 1-1 draws have been registered in their very last two encounters. Both teams have scored in three of the previous four head-to-head matches between Augsburg and Cologne, with the very last five Bundesliga contests of the Billy Goats also delivering goals from both opponents. Furthermore, a total of four red cards has been shown during the past four encounters between the pair, with both teams receiving one each in this season’s reverse fixture in November.

Best bets:

Draw (+255)

Correct score: 1-1 (+530)

Both teams to score (-170)

Jhon Cordoba to score anytime (+160)

Red card (+350)