RB Leipzig will be looking to quickly bounce back to winning ways when they welcome FC Koln to Red Bull Arena for the 22nd Bundesliga round on Friday night with kickoff at 22:30.
The two sides sit at the edge of the European places in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig displaced by their Friday opponents following differing results last weekend. The hosts now sit seventh one point and one place behind FC Koln who now hold the last European spot.
Leipzig were on a brilliant run under the new manager Domenico Tedesco before coming up against the champions and league leaders Bayern Munich last weekend at away. Despite Leipzig’s valiant efforts in the clash as they did well to twice equalize, the champions still found a way to claim all three points this time with some help from the Leipzig’s young defender Josko Gvardiol, who unwittingly turned a cross from Serge Gnabry into his own net.
Domenico Tedesco’s side did what they could to equalize the third time, but were unable to and a result their four-match winning streak was brought to a bitter end and they slipped into the seventh in the standings.
With Die Roten Bullen now locked on 31 points with both Hoffenheim and Eintracht Frankfurt and being just a point above the 10th-placed Mainz 05, Domenico Tedesco will be desperate to get a positive a result on Friday as a slip up could leave them in the 10th.
Meanwhile FC Koln did well to displace their hosts from their previous sixth place in the table, following a narrow 1-0 home victory against FC Freiburg courtesy of Anthony Modeste’s 14th goal of the season. The result meant a lot for the Christian Streich’s as it did not only move them from the eighth to sixth, but it also left them just two points outside the top four places.
The victory also put an end to their four-match winless run across all competitions and the Billy Goats will be looking to push on and build some momentum; a victory over another Champion League seekers would be a significant step in building their momentum.
RB Leipzig vs FC Koln head to head
Both sides have met in nine encounters since 2016 with Leipzig claiming four victories while FC Koln have claimed two victories and there have been three draws.
- FC Koln 1-1 Leipzig 18/09/21
- FC Koln 2-1 Leipzig 20/04/21
- Leipzig 0-0 FC Koln 19/12/20
- FC Koln 2-4 Leipzig 01/06/20
- Leipzig 4-1 FC Koln 23/11/19
Home
- B. Munich 3-2 Leipzig
- Leipzig 2-0 Wolfsburg
- Leipzig 2-0 Rostock
- Stuttgart 0-2 Leipzig
- Leipzig 4-1 Mainz
Away
- FC Koln 1-0 Freiburg
- FC Koln 2-2 Schalke
- Bochum 2-2 FC Koln
- FC Koln 3-4 Hamburg (AP)
- FC Koln 0-4 B. Munich
Leipzig team news
Leipzig will be without defender marcel Halstenberg due to an injury while there are doubts over the availability of Tyler Adams.
FC Koln team news
FC Koln have no injury or suspensions concerns.
Prediction and odds
Leipzig have really improved under Domenico Tedesco and have been playing well in front of their own funs this season and we expect them to edge their opponents here.
- Leipzig win
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
