FC Koln play host to Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon knowing that victory could be enough to secure their top-flight status for another 12 months.
Meanwhile, Berlin make the trip to the RheinEnergieSTADION with the opportunity to move level on points with their next opponents, who sit in 12th position in the table.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having once found themselves in contention for a Europa League spot, Koln boss Markus Gisdol will be disappointed that his side will now deem success to be mathematically avoiding relegation with three games remaining.
Nevertheless, having failed to win any of their five matches since the resumption of Germany's top flight, Gisdol may take the positives from being able to conclude the campaign without any major alarm.
There is still time for that to change, especially with defeat on Saturday and other results going against them, but the Billy Goats are on the brink of providing themselves with a low-key triple-header to end a topsy-turvy season.
With Koln having squandered winning positions in three of their last five games, that may be what is needed ahead of preparing for what they will hope to be a much-improved year ahead of them.
However, with a trip to Bayer Leverkusen to come in midweek, Gisdol is aware that he must get his squad in the right frame of mind for a meeting with opposition who are also looking to end a bleak run of form.
While Koln have gone six matches without success, Berlin have not recorded a victory in the Bundesliga since February 24, a period lasting seven fixtures.
On that date, Urs Fischer's team sat in 10th place in the table, just five points adrift of sixth, but there is an argument that they had exceeded expectations during the opening half of the campaign.
In reality, survival in their first Bundesliga campaign would be regarded as a huge success, and prevailing on Saturday afternoon would leave the likes of Fortuna Dusseldorf and Werder Bremen unlikely to catch them over the coming weeks.
In the reverse fixture back in December, top goalscorer Sebastian Andersson netted two of his 12 strikes for the campaign as Berlin prevailed by a 2-0 scoreline.
FC Koln Bundesliga form form: LDDLLD
Union Berlin Bundesliga form: LLLDLD
Team News
© Reuters
Jhon Cordoba is expected to lead the line for FC Koln after shaking off a knee injury.
Gisdol is further boosted by the return of Sebastiaan Bornauw and Dominic Drexler, who have been absent due to suspension.
As far as Berlin are concerned, Fischer may be open to making a number of alternations after his side's failure to defeat out-of-form Schalke 04 last weekend.
Anthony Ujah, formerly of Koln, may be provided with the opportunity to face his ex-employers, while Keven Schlotterbeck could return to the backline.
However, Berlin will be without Robert Andrich, who picked up his 10th yellow card of the campaign on Sunday.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Horn; Ehizibue, Leistner, Bornauw, Katterbach; Shkiri, Hector; Drexler, Uth, Kainz; Cordoba
Union Berlin possible starting lineup:
Gikiewicz; Subotic, Schlotterbeck, Friedrich; Trimmel, Gentner, Promel, Lenz; Malli, Bulter; Ujah
We say: KC Koln 1-1 Union Berlin
Given the respective winless streaks of the two teams, we can only predict that a draw will be played out on Saturday. With just four games to go, there is an argument that such a result would be welcomed by both sides as they look to maintain distance to Dusseldorf and Bremen.
Darren Plant
