Table of Contents
1. FC Köln – RB Leipzig
The 19th matchday of the Bundesliga will see a clash between 1. FC Köln and RB Leipzig on Saturday afternoon. Both teams are in good shape and want to remain unbeaten in the new year. Unless the match ends in a draw, however, only one of the two clubs can make this goal a reality. Our Cologne vs Leipzig betting tips will tell you who we think that will be.
Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart should avoid looking at the statistics before the upcoming home game. He has never won against Leipzig (three draws, two defeats) or Marco Rose (one draw, three defeats). His employer does not have the best memories of the duels with Leipzig either. The Effzeh won only two of the eleven games – even against FC Bayern the Geißböcke’ win rate is higher.
Cologne – Leipzig info:
– Date & Time: 04.02.2023, 15:30 hrs.
– Venue: Rhein-Energie-Stadion, Cologne
– Competition: Bundesliga, Matchday 19
– TV broadcast: Sky
Cologne Form & Balance Check
1. FC Köln went into the winter break before the World Cup with three Bundesliga defeats in a row, but quickly put this interim low behind them with three unbeaten games after the turn of the year. One of the main reasons for the big difference in performance is surely that the Geißböcken ran out of steam a little towards the end of last year due to their intensive style of play and the double burden. Now the batteries are full again and the fact that Cologne are very difficult to beat in good physical condition was also felt by Bayern on the penultimate matchday.
Second draw in a row
After Ellyes Skhiri’s early goal (4th minute), the Effzeh had the record champions on the brink of defeat for a long time, but finally caught the late equaliser in the 90th minute. In the goalless away match at FC Schalke 04, the Cologne team once again could not get beyond a draw. In their last home match – the first match after the winter break – the Cathedral City side dispatched SV Werder Bremen 7:1 and thus celebrated the highest Bundesliga victory in almost 40 years!
On Saturday, Steffen Baumgart’s team wants to remain unbeaten in the fourth game of the year. This is backed up by the fact that Cologne have only lost two home games this season and have already recorded four home victories. However, the Effzeh had problems against the top teams in the league. The only two home defeats were against Union Berlin (0:1) and Bayer Leverkusen (1:2). So far, Cologne has only taken something countable from the top half of the table against Dortmund (3:2).
Cologne facts & analysis
– 22 points from 18 games
– Last played 0:0 against Schalke
– Still unbeaten in 2023 (1S, 2U)
Leipzig form & balance check
RB Leipzig continue to be the team of the moment in the Bundesliga. Since Marco Rose took over, no other Bundesliga club has scored as well as the Champions League club from Saxony (30 points from 13 games). The 46-year-old has even managed to more or less forget the disappointing start to the season. Although Leipzig were left with just eight points after the first seven games, their account is filled with ten more points after 18 matchdays (35) than at the same time last season (25). The gap to league leaders Bayern is two points after the recent 2-1 home win over Stuttgart.
Away things are finally going well too
The home side was already doing well under the old coach Domenico Tedesco, only in foreign stadiums RB had extremely big problems at the beginning of the season. Of the first six away games, Leipzig did not win a single one; in addition to three draws, there were three defeats. But Rose has also got to grips with this problem. RB has even won all three of its most recent Bundesliga away games. The 3:1 win at TSG Hoffenheim was followed by a 2:1 victory at the Weserstadion in Bremen and a 6:1 victory at Schalke.
During the week, the defending champions had the DFB Cup round of 16 against Hoffenheim on their schedule. After regulation time, the Saxons advanced to the next round with a fully deserved 3:1 victory. Emil Forsberg scored the early 1:0 (4th), Konrad Laimer put the lid on it early with the second goal in the 41st minute, as TSG seemed to have resigned themselves to defeat before kick-off. At least that’s what the team’s performance suggested. Leipzig was not really challenged at any point and was thus able to save some energy for the upcoming match against Cologne, which will certainly demand a lot from the team.
Leipzig facts & analysis
– 35 points from 18 games
– Last win 2:1 against Stuttgart
– Won 6 of last 7 matches
Predicted line-up – last update on 2 February 2023
Davie Selke had to be substituted against Schalke due to injury. The club gave the all-clear, but the newcomer is still not expected to play against Leipzig. Otherwise, Mark Uth, Sebastian Andersson, Florian Dietz, Kristian Pedersen, Luca Kilian and Dimitrios Limnios are still missing. Alternatives to our starting eleven are Dejan Ljubicic and Mathias Olesen.
RB Leipzig could well rotate a bit after the cup match during the week. Among others, David Raum and Benjamin Henrichs might move into the starting eleven. Xaver Schlager could get a break, with Amadou Haidara and Kevin Kampl available as alternatives. Peter Gulacsi, Dani Olmo and Christopher Nkunku are still missing due to injury.
Cologne – Leipzig direct comparison & Statistics
Leipzig lead the direct comparison with five wins to two and four draws. In Cologne, however, RB remained winless in the last two guest matches (1U, 1N). The first leg (2:2) also did not find a winner.
– A year ago, 1. FC Köln was 6th in the table with 28 points. They are currently in 12th position (22).
– The average number of goals scored when 1. FC Köln and RB Leipzig meet is 2.6.
– When RB Leipzig leads 0-1 in away matches, they win 92% of the games.
– Florian Kainz has the most assists on goal for 1. FC Köln with 5. Dominik Szoboszlai (8) is in the lead for RB Leipzig.
