Borussia Dortmund will be hoping to move top of the Bundesliga when they visit FC Koln on Saturday.
The hosts, meanwhile, will be hoping to return to winning ways having only won one of their last six league games.
Match preview
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Despite remaining unbeaten in their first five matches of the season, Koln's domestic form has stuttered somewhat in recent weeks, with their unbeaten record coming to an end at home against league leaders Union Berlin.
Steffen Baumgart's side were also the first team to fail to beat VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga so far this season, although Linton Maina's 88th-minute equaliser did at least spare them the indignity of losing to a team that had been defeated in each of their opening six matches.
After Benno Schmitz's ninth-minute own goal handed Bochum a surprise lead at Vonovia Ruhrstadion, Koln pushed hard to get themselves back in the game, with 66% possession and 18 shots in total illustrating their dominance across the 90 minutes.
Baumgart will have been pleased to have denied his opponents a single shot on target in the entire match, but may be concerned about his side's lack of goal threat at times this season. Indeed, the Billy Goats have scored one goal or fewer in four of their last five league games.
Still, they are going well in their maiden Europa Conference League campaign with four points from two matches, and remain in the top half of the table ahead of the weekend's action. A positive result against Dortmund may be required for that to still be the case by the end of it, though.
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Dortmund, meanwhile, have enjoyed a strong start to the season, winning five of their seven matches to sit in second place, only two points behind league leaders Union Berlin.
Bayern Munich's surprise winless run of four games has allowed BVB to gain a three-point lead over their rivals ahead of hosting them at Westfalenstadion next weekend, making coming away from Saturday's trip to Cologne with that lead in tact (or extended) vitally important.
The Yellow Wall was in fine form during the Revierderby against their fierce rivals Schalke 04 in Dortmund's last match prior to the international break, with Edin Terzic's side's dominance finally rewarded when Youssoufa Moukoko bagged a 78th-minute winner.
The 17-year-old ensured that he will remain a hero in Dortmund for the rest of his time at the club, although a potentially serious injury to Marco Reus during the first half did dampen the occasion to some extent.
With the injury count racking up for BVB, Terzic will desperately hope that his players can get themselves over the line against Koln on Saturday, and ensure that they retain their lead over Bayern ahead of next weekend's crucial meeting with the Bavarians.
Team News
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Koln could be without Timo Horn, Julian Chabot, Mathias Olesen, Dimitrios Limnios, Mark Uth and Sebastian Andersson due to injury on Saturday.
However, Luca Kilian is available again after serving a one-match suspension against Bochum, with the 23-year-old likely to replace Nikola Soldo at the heart of the defence.
Eric Martel may come into the side, too, in order to bolster the midfield area, with Ondrej Duda potentially dropping to the bench as a result.
Dortmund, meanwhile, have a whole host of injury problems, meaning that they are likely to travel without Reus, Moukoko, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Mateu Morey and Mahmoud Dahoud.
Gregor Kobel, Salih Ozcan, Giovanni Reyna and Raphael Guerreiro will face late fitness tests due to muscular issues, while Julian Brandt has been suffering with illness and may not be risked from the start, especially with Donyell Malen and Karem Adeyemi returning to full fitness.
Sebastian Haller remains sidelined due to testicular cancer, meaning that Anthony Modeste will have the chance to score against his former club as he leads the line once again.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Kilian, Hubers, Hector; Skhiri, Martel; Thielmann, Ljubicic, Kainz; Tigges
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Meyer; Meunier, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Can; Adeyemi, Hazard, Malen; Modeste
We say: FC Koln 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Koln have a real opportunity to pounce on Dortmund's mounting injury crisis, with the visitors likely to rely on the return of Malen and Adeyemi to inject fresh life into them.
While it would not be a surprise to see the hosts claim a positive result, we can envisage BVB snatching a tight victory and remain at least three points in front of Bayern in the table ahead of next weekend's meeting at Westfalenstadion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
