Relegation-threatened FC Koln welcome Augsburg to the RheinEnergieStadion in round 10's Bundesliga action on Saturday.

The second-bottom side were on the receiving end of a 6-0 beatdown by RB Leipzig in the previous gameweek, while the mid-table visitors secured an entertaining 3-2 victory against Wolfsburg.

Match preview

Steffen Baumgart could be forgiven for thinking the corner had been turned after Koln's first league win in the eighth round against Borussia Monchengladbach.

However, the 17th-placed side were heavily beaten in Leipzig, with the concession of four first-half goals taking the game out of their reach.

Two more were let in by the Billy Goats after the break to complete a wretched encounter, but victory this weekend could take the Cologne-based club outside the bottom two and away from the relegation playoff positions.

While that eventuality would require teams around them to drop points, Baumgart hopes his troops secure consecutive home wins to give them a fighting chance of leaving the dreaded bottom two places.

The preparation for Saturday's game has not been smooth, with a 3-2 DFB Pokal defeat at the hands of Kaiserslautern possibly diminishing optimism further.

Augsburg will hope to face a disheartened side in Cologne as they seek to extend their winning run to three games following victories over Heidenheim and Wolfsburg.

The goals have flowed both for and against Jess Thorup's side since replacing Enrico Maassen in mid-October, with the Dane's team scoring eight times and conceding four.

This is unlikely to be sustainable for the Bavarians, who have had to come from behind in both victories under their head coach, roaring back from 2-0 down to defeat new boys Heidenheim 5-2 and relying on two late goals to turn a potential 2-1 loss against Wolfsburg to a 3-2 triumph.

Thorup goes into Saturday's game seeking stability in his team's performance, but it remains to be seen if this is feasible for a club that have conceded two goals or higher in every away fixture this term.

Even though two of those games were visits to Bayern Munich (3-1) and Leipzig (3-0), letting in two at Freiburg and Heidenheim suggests a pattern that needs fixing for Augsburg.

Team News

Mathias Olesen is suspended after last weekend's sending-off at Leipzig, while Philipp Pentke and Jacob Christensen are ruled out for Koln.

Despite Jan Thielmann making a goalscoring return from a knee injury in the cup defeat at Kaiserslautern, the forward may have to accept a place on the bench.

As for Augsburg, the away side must do without Felix Uduokhai after the defender's late dismissal against Wolfsburg.

Other injury absentees for Thorup are Arne Maier (ankle), Kevin Mbabu (groin), Frederik Winther (ankle) and Raphael Framberger (ACL), with the latter not expected back until 2024.

FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Hubers, Chabot, Paqarada; Ljubicic, Martel; Maina, Waldschmidt, Kainz; Selke

Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Dahmen; Gummy, Gouweleeuw, Pfeiffer, Pedersen; Rexhbecaj, Dorsch; Jensen, Demirovic; Tietz, Michel

We say: FC Koln 1-2 Augsburg

Augsburg's newfound attacking firepower under Thorup could see them claim a third straight league victory over Koln.


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