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VfB Stuttgart – 1. FC Köln
This weekend is the 21st matchday in the Bundesliga. It is already the fourth matchday in the second half of the season and for many teams there are already trend-setting games this weekend. One of these duels will take place on Saturday in Swabia. There, VfB Stuttgart will receive 1. FC Köln in the afternoon.
The season is not going as desired for Stuttgart, as they are struggling to establish a series of successful games. Currently, the Swabians occupy 17th place in the Bundesliga. Despite the change of coach to Bruno Labbadia, VfB have so far been unable to record a league win in 2023. Last weekend, Stuttgart lost to SC Freiburg with 1:2.
Their opponents from the cathedral city, on the other hand, are still unbeaten in the new year. 1. FC Köln are slowly but surely climbing up the table and are now in eleventh place. Last Sunday, FC defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0. Find out whether the cathedral city’s wave of success will continue in our Stuttgart vs Cologne betting tips.
Stuttgart – Cologne info:
– Date & Time: 18.02.2023, 15:30 Uhr
– Venue: Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart
– Competition: Bundesliga, Matchday 21
– TV broadcast: Sky
Stuttgart Form & Balance Check
Stuttgart are once again only fighting to stay in the league this season. At the beginning of the season, VfB went through a long series of nine winless games. Consequently, coach Pellegrino Matarazzo was sacked and interim coach Michael Wimmer took the helm and brought VfB out of the bottom of the table. Since the beginning of the winter break, Bruno Labbadia has been in charge of the team.
Under his leadership, however, VfB has so far slid back into the relegation zone. The fans of the Swabians have not yet been able to celebrate a victory in the new year. Two draws at the start were followed by three defeats in a row. Last weekend, Stuttgart lost 1:2 at SC Freiburg, despite leading 1:0. In the table, Stuttgart are therefore in penultimate place.
No penetration in attack
Stuttgart’s offence definitely has room for improvement. VfB have only scored 23 goals in their first 20 Bundesliga games so far. Only FC Schalke scored fewer goals in the Bundesliga. To make matters worse, top scorer Serhou Guirassy is now injured. The Frenchman will probably be out for some time.
The only hope for Stuttgart fans probably lies in the home games. VfB is not necessarily strong at home, but the Swabians are still in 15th place in the home table and have taken twelve points from ten games so far. On the other hand, Stuttgart have only managed a meagre four points away from home. The VfB fans are still waiting in vain for an away win in this Bundesliga season.
Stuttgart facts & analysis
– No Bundesliga win yet this year.
– The second weakest offence in the league
– Only four points ahead of bottom of the table Schalke
Cologne form & balance check
Last season was a successful one for 1. FC Köln, ending in seventh place, which earned them a place in the UEFA Conference League. However, the double burden hurt the FC. Not only were the Geißböcke eliminated from the Conference League, but their performance in the league also declined. After a strong start to the season, coach Steffen Baumgart’s team lost steam over the course of the Hinrunde and only managed to pick up one point from the last five Bundesliga games before the winter break.
Since the start of the new year, however, things have been going much better again for FC. The Cologne team won its first match of the year with an outstanding 7:1 victory over Werder Bremen. Three draws in a row were followed by an outstanding 3:0 home win against the top team from Frankfurt on Sunday. Currently, 1. FC Köln is in eleventh place in the table.
No away power
As is well known, the people of Cologne love their city more than anything else. And that is obviously also the case with the team of 1. FC Köln. The cathedral cities have only conceded two defeats at home in the RheinEnergieSTADION this Bundesliga season.
Away from home, however, the Geißböcke’ record looks very modest. On 03.09.2022, the Cologne team won 4:2 at VfL Wolfsburg. To date, this is the only away win in this Bundesliga season. So far, FC has only scored eight points on foreign soil. Against Stuttgart, the fans of the Geißböcke will of course be hoping for a second away win.
Cologne facts & analysis
– Only one away win
– Last three times in a row to nil
– No win away from home since early September
Predicted line-up – last updated 17 Feb 2023
Stuttgart will probably go into the game with a 4-3-3 again. Silas could move back into Stuttgart’s starting eleven. Zagadou made an unfortunate play against Freiburg and caused two penalties. Konstantinos Mavropanos could replace him in the starting line-up. Tiago Tomás and Serhou Guirassy are also suspended.
Coach Steffen Baumgart will again start with a 4-2-3-1. Tigges will again be the only top player for the Cathedral City side. With Kilian, Pedersen, Andersson, Dietz and Uth, Cologne are still missing five players through injury. Dejan Ljubicic will return to the squad after his cold. Centre-back Hübers is missing with a yellow suspension.
Stuttgart – Cologne direct comparison & stats
The record between VfB Stuttgart and 1. FC Köln covers a total of 103 competitive matches. 41 times FC had a happier ending and 36 times VfB won. The first leg ended with a rather unspectacular 0:0.
– Both teams are separated by ten points in the league.
– Cologne’s last away win at VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga was in 2015.
– Stuttgart have not won in the league for six matches.
– When Cologne lead 1-0 in away games, they win 66% of the games
