Darmstadt vs FC Koln prediction: GERMANY: Bundesliga betting tips on match 2023-11-30 19:30.
Darmstadt may have struck first last time out in a 1-1 draw at Freiburg, but they still possess the weakest defence in the German top-flight heading into this matchday which proved to be their undoing once again on that occasion. As a result, they currently sit 15th after twelve rounds, just like in two of their four seasons in the Bundesliga across club history, but as they were relegated both times prior, they’ll look to quickly put more points on the board starting with this all-important showdown vs Cologne.
In this one, the hosts face an opponent who currently sit below them in the standings and despite drawing 0-0 against another such a team in their last home game vs Mainz, they’ll want to go one better here. They’ll have to overcome a huge historical obstacle to do that though, as Darmstadt have never won a H2H against Cologne in the Bundesliga era (D2, L6), losing their last two home H2H games by a combined 9-1 scoreline!
Cologne narrowly lost 1-0 at home to Harry Kane and his Bayern Munich teammates last time out, which in turn saw the weakest offense in the league fail to get on the scoresheet for the fifth time this season. That result saw the visitors remain rock-bottom of the standings (W1, D3, L8) but whilst their form against the current Bundesliga top eight remains poor, they have collected five of their six points against teams currently in tenth place or lower (W1, D2, L1).
Since their first Bundesliga relegation in 1997, Cologne have occupied a relegation place after twelve games on six occasions, four of those seeing them go on to face the drop in the same season. The Billy Goats need to turn around their fortunes quickly to avoid the same fate again, and should find some confidence from their record of not losing any of their last eight Bundesliga games against newly-promoted opposition (W4, D4).
Players to watch: After suffering through five games with no goal involvement, Marvin Mehlem (G3, A2 this season) finally broke his duck to assist Darmstadt’s only goal last time out. For Cologne, joint-top scorer Florian Kainz (G3) remains in solid form and could be their most likely scorer here, with two of his three strikes coming as first-half openers from the spot.
Hot stat: Cologne have converted 56% of their set-pieces into goals – the highest percentage of any Bundesliga side.