German Bundesliga Soccer - Werder Bremen vs. Cologne, 6/27/20 - Preview, Prediction & Odds

Still battling to end the season in the relegation play-off spot, 17th-placed Werder Bremen host 14th-placed Cologne, who will continue to play in the Bundesliga next year. Kick-off - at 9:30 AM ET on Saturday, June 27.

Bremen Get Beaten By Mainz

The hopes of remaining in the Bundesliga for the 40th straight season was dented for Werder Bremen, who were beaten with a count of 3-1 by Mainz away at Opel Arena last Saturday. Trying to overtake Fortuna Dusseldorf for the relegation play-off spot, the Green-Whites started brightly, but found themselves two goals down just before half time, with the hosts scoring their third with five minutes remaining on the clock after Yuya Osako got a snipe back for Werder Bremen, netting his second marker in the last three games. The four-time Bundesliga champions remain 17th in the standings (W7 D7 L19), trailing the relegation play-off place by two points.

Kosovar winger Milot Rashica tops the scoring chart of the Green-Whites with seven Bundesliga goals but is doubtful for the last game of the season with an ankle injury. Jiri Pavlenka, meanwhile, occupies the 3rd place on the league’s goalie table, having turned away 110 shots thus far this year. He has picked up four clean sheets in 32 games this season and concedes a goal every 44 minutes of play. Werder Bremen are 2nd in the least strikes buried during the ongoing campaign (36), 13th in most shots taken per game (12.3), 9th in ball possession (48.8%) and 7th in passing accuracy (78.4%).

Cologne Leave It Level With Frankfurt

Cologne remained without a victory since the Bundesliga restart (D4 L4) after ending a two-game losing streak with a 1-1 home draw against Eintracht Frankfurt at RheinEnergieStadion last Saturday. Competing against an Eagles team, which still had a slim chance of snatching a place in the Europa League at the end of the season in case of wins in its last two games, the Billy Goats controlled the ball just 38% of the time and were outshot 9-4, only for Florian Kainz to open the scoring with a penalty in the dying moments of the first half before the visitors tied the game at 1-1 in the following frame. Presently sitting 14th in the standings with a W10 D6 L17 record, Cologne will definitely play in the Bundesliga for another year.

Colombian striker Jhon Cordoba leads the Billy Goats in scoring with 13 league snipes, but will not feature in the last game of the season due to a groin injury. Goalie Timo Horn, meanwhile, sits 10th in the Bundesliga with 88 saves. He has collected six clean sheets in 33 appearances this year and gives up a goal every 47 minutes on average. Cologne has scored the 7th highest amount of goals during the ongoing campaign (50) while delivering the 11th highest number of shots per game (12.5). The team is 12th in ball possession (47.4%) and 13th in passing accuracy (76.3%).

Prediction

Werder Bremen need a victory in this matchup to even have the slightest hope of finishing in the relegation play-off spot, currently occupied by Fortuna Dusseldorf, who can still lose it to the Green-Whites in case of a draw against Union Berlin, if Bremen beat Cologne by at least four goals. Desperation normally gives teams extra motivation. For the Green-Whites, though, this has brought just more misery, as the squad has lost three of its last four contests, with the only victory coming against rock-bottom Paderborn. Cologne are winless in their last nine games (D4 L5), but can still spoil Bremen’s attempts at a win with a stalemate, having already drawn half of their previous eight Bundesliga contests and five of their last nine head-to-head matchups with the Green-Whites in all competitions (W2 D5 L2).

Best bet:

Draw (+340)