Cologne – Hoffenheim

Hoffenheim has a slightly better chance against Cologne

One of the most interesting games of the tour will be played on Sunday in Cologne. The current mid-table sides will meet here with the ambition of qualifying at least in the European zone at the end of the league season. Last season, Cologne finished seventh; their upcoming opponents are ninth. Now Hoffenheim occupy ninth place, while the Goats are eleventh. Cologne's level of play is indeed lower than last season, which, with virtually the same squad, can be attributed to their parallel performances in the Conference League. In the upcoming encounter, bookmakers have chosen the guests as favorites, offering odds on their victory slightly higher than two. Recently, Cologne have had to endure not only a tight playing schedule as Germany's representative in European cups, but also without a number of injured players. In Sunday's encounter, they will be joined by Kylian, who was suspended in a horrendous loss to Mainz. A total of seven or eight players from the team are unavailable for next week's game. October turned out to be difficult for Cologne, but not a failure. In the first game of the month, the Goats dealt with Borussia Dortmund and had victories over Augsburg and Slovacko. Since the first round of the Bundesliga, Hoffenheim have alternated between defeats and a couple of successes in an almost cyclical sequence. Thus, in 11 rounds, the team lost four times and left the field five times with a victory. The team does not display any particular game that would make them clear favourites over Cologne. In the last round, the Villers hosted Bayern, who conceded two goals in the first half. During the second half, the champions were both unplayable themselves and kept the home side at bay. The skewed odds in favour of the visitors may be due to Cologne's pathological inability to play with Hoffenheim. "The 'Goats have managed to lose nine of their ten head-to-head encounters in the last six years, only managing to pick up a point in one. The teams have met once this year. In March, Hoffenheim proved stronger in an almost statistically even game. We're betting that the home team will play well this time.