Kaiserslautern – Cologne

The playing form of the guests deserves more credit

The central meeting of the next game day of the Second Bundesliga will take place at the Fritz Walter Stadium. Kaiserslautern were not quoted before the start of the championship as one of the contenders for promotion. Rather, after last season's failure, the Red Devils were expected to fight to stay in the second division. However, the last couple of months have emphasised the ambition of this team and the good work of Markus Anfang, who is already the third coach of Kaiserslautern in three incomplete seasons in the Second Bundesliga. Cologne, after being relegated from the Bundesliga at the end of last season, initially upset their fans. The team systematically lost points, and the fate of Hamburg, Hertha and Schalke, who have a decent stay in the second division of Germany, does not appeal to anyone in the Cologne camp. Good, in recent weeks, the "goats" manage to impose their game and, to a greater extent, to achieve winning results. Bookmakers have identified the visitors as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.84 on their victory. After two victories in the eight starting meetings of the championship Kaiserslautern did not show signs of the upcoming fight for promotion. The aforementioned victories over Ulm and Proyssen Münster were achieved through goals in the 83rd and 86th minutes respectively. The Red Devils managed to turn the tide of the season in October, when out of the blue they scored a total of seven goals against the then dominant Fortuna Düsseldorf and Paderborn. Kaiserslautern's winless streak lasted until last weekend and was broken at Darmstadt (1:5). The Red Devils are now two points behind the leaders. Cologne took quite a long time to adapt to the performances in the new division. In the first round "goats" lost to Hamburg, and in the first two months of the Second Bundesliga won only two meetings out of seven. After October's defeats to Darmstadt 98 and Paderborn, it was as if the team had been replaced. Since then, Cologne have made it to the quarter-finals of the German Cup, as well as taking sixteen of their eighteen league points. The form of the visitors deserves more confidence, so let's bet on a win for the Goats.