FK Partizan vs FC Koln Match Analysis and Prediction

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FK Partizan will be looking for a victory that will help them cement their place at the top of Group D when they host FC Koln in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.

Gordan Petric’s side produced a strong performance against Koln last time out in Cologne, with Svetozar Markovic’s ninth-minute goal givin them something to hold onto for the rest of the game.

Since taking charge of the team that he made 106 league appearances for during his playing career in early August, Petric can seemingly do very little wrong with Partizan, having gone unbeaten after 90 minutes in all 14 of his matches across all competitions.

His only slander so far was a penalty shoot-out defeat to second tier outfit FK Radnicki Sremska Mitrovica in the first round of the Serbian Cup, when his side somehow missed all four of their penalties.

However, with 22 points from a possible 24 in an unbeaten run of eight league matches, they have moved to within five points of their fiercest fivals Red Star Belgrade in their domestic division, while if they can defeat Koln on Thursday they will move within two points of progressing to the knockout rounds for the second successive season.

Koln are struggling to find any real consistency in Steffen Baumgart’s second season in charge, having endured a mixed start to their domestic and European campaigns.

A 5-2 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach as the weekend saw them drop to ninth place in the Bundesliga table with 13 points from nine games, while last week’s loss at home to Partizan leaves them chasing the Serbian side and Nice in Group D.

However, they are just one point behind the top two and a victory on Thursday could move them back into top spot ahead of their final two matches in the section.

FK Partizan vs FC Koln head to head

These two teams have previously met on just one occasion in the Europa Conference League on October 6, where Partizan claimed a 1-0 away victory.

FK Partizan latest home form

FK Partizan have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their eight most recent matches. They managed to defeat Vojvodina 4-1 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 16 goals and conceded just four.

Partizan 4-1 Hamrun Spartans 18/08/22

Partizan 1-1 Red Star Belgrade 31/08/22

Partizan 6-0 Mladost Lucani 11/09/22

Partizan 1-1 Nice 15/09/22

Partizan 4-1 Vojvodina 02/10/22

FK Partizan latest away form

FK Partizan have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their nine most recent matches. They managed to defeat Vozdovac 4-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded four.

Slovacko 3-3 Partizan 08/09/22

Radnik Surdulica 0-2 Partizan 18/09/22

Radnicki Sr. Mitrovica (P)1-1 Partizan 28/09/22

FC Cologne 0-1 Partizan 06/10/22

Vozdovac 0-4 Partizan 09/10/22

FC Koln latest home form

FC Koln have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just two of their six most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Partizan in their last home game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded six.

FC Cologne 0-0 Stuttgart 28/08/22

FC Cologne 0-1 Union Berlin 11/09/22

FC Cologne 4-2 Slovacko 15/09/22

FC Cologne 3-2 Borussia Dortmund 01/10/22

FC Cologne 0-1 Partizan 06/10/22

FC Koln latest away form

FC Koln were beaten 5-2 by Borussia Monchengladbach in their last away game in the league. However, they have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their previous six games. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded nine.

Feherver 0-3 FC Cologne 25/08/22

Wolfsburg 2-4 FC Cologne 03/09/22

Nice 1-1 FC Cologne 08/09/22

Bochum 1-1 FC Cologne 18/09/22

Borussia M’gladbach 5-2 FC Cologne 09/10/22

FK Partizan news

Partizan will take to the pitch without central midfielder Ljubomir Felsa due to a knock, while Marko Brnovic was not registered in their Europa Conference League squad.

Petric in unlikely to make any changes to the XI that caused an upset in Cologne last week, and will maintain their well-drilled 4-4-2 formation.

FC Koln news

Florian Kainz was sent off during the weekend’s defeat to Monchengladbach and may therefore start given his unvailability against Augsburg on Sunday.

Tim Lemperle, Timo Horn, Sebastian Anderson, Julian Chabot, Dimitrios Limnios, Dejan Ljubicic, Jan Thielmann and Mathias Olosen are all expected to be sidelined for the visitors through their respective injuries.

Prediction and Odds

Koln will have learned from their defeat to Partizan last week and will be looking to make amends here, but with several players absent from their squad, they are likely to lose again.

The hosts will be keen on recording another victory on Thursday and we expect them to secure at least a point.

Odds: 1 2.22 X 2.05 2 2.30