FC Koln vs Werder Bremen prediction: GERMANY: Bundesliga betting tips on match 2023-01-20 17:30.
Cologne return to Bundesliga action after being in desperate need of the World Cup and winter hiatus as they headed into the break on the back of three successive defeats, their longest ever losing league streak under manager Steffen Baumgart. Their failures in defence long precede this run though, as Cologne’s inability to keep a clean sheet in their last 11 league games is the joint-longest streak in the competition prior to the weekend, tied with Stuttgart.
The Billy Goats have therefore slowly seen the relegation zone creep up on them, with their safety net standing at a mere three points ahead of the round. Perhaps a date with Werder Bremen at the RheinEnergieSTADION will help in lifting not only the mood, but Cologne up the table considering they’re unbeaten in their last ten Bundesliga home H2Hs (W4, D6).
Bremen too were in need of some time off to regroup having lost their last two Bundesliga matches before the break, conceding a mammoth eight goals in the process. Those results have left Ole Werner’s men playing catchup in the race for European football as they occupy ninth place, four points adrift of Borussia Dortmund in sixth before the weekend’s proceedings.
The River Islanders will be looking to rediscover the sparkling away form they started the season with, going undefeated in their first five away league games of the campaign (W3, D2), but have since slumped to back-to-back travelling defeats. This may be a better time than ever to steer the ship in the right direction once again though, since Bremen have won their last four top-flight games when scheduled as the late Saturday kick-off.
Players to watch: Cologne’s Florian Kainz would love to carry on his streak of netting his side’s opener in his last three goalscoring outings considering he’s coming up against his old club here. He may have to outshine Bremen star Niclas Füllkrug who has scored two goals of his own against Cologne, and has never been on the losing side against them (W1, D4).
Hot stat: Cologne have only lost three of the last 21 Bundesliga matches in which they’ve started as the betting favourite (W12, D6).