Leverkusen – Cologne

Both teams will score goals in Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen started the current season in the worst possible way, for some time even being in the relegation zone. At the same time, the team has a certain class, below which they have not fallen for years. The previous five seasons, the "pharmacists" invariably finished in the third or sixth position, which they got to due to the excellent playing form in the second half of the current season. Cologne are in the Bundesliga for the fourth year in a row after a brief stint in the second division. In the first two seasons, the Goats were on the verge of relegation, but in the last and current championships, they are stable midfielders. Cologne approach the upcoming game without much tournament motivation, with no chance of competing for European positions, and no risk of relegation. Before Friday's encounter, bookmakers identified the more motivated home side as the favourites, offering odds of 1.64 to win. March and April of this year passed for Bayer without a single defeat. The Pharmacists' winless streak now totals fourteen fixtures. During this period, the Leverkusen club passed Monaco, Ferencvaros and Union Saint-Gillois in the Europa League, and rose to sixth position in the German championship, losing points only in away matches. The Pharmacists last lost at home to Mainz in mid-February, when they failed to score a penalty at the start of the game and earned a penalty at the end of it. Cologne have not challenged for European positions at almost any point in the current championship. The lack of lofty goals, from time to time, has led the club to both unsuccessful and positive streaks. For example, from mid-February to mid-March, the Goats picked up just one point in five games, losing four times with a total goal difference of 1-13. In five games in April, however, Cologne lost just once, when they hosted eventual top-four contender Freiburg last Saturday. Cologne have scored against Bayer in the last three head-to-head meetings, even beating their rivals in Leverkusen last March. "The Pharmacists are the clear favourites for the upcoming match, but the visitors have nothing to lose, which should be reflected in the result of the encounter.