FC Koln take on Stuttgart at the RheinEnergieSTADION in the Bundesliga on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors are still searching for their first league win of the season, while Koln are unbeaten.
Match preview
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After winning 3-1 against newly-promoted Schalke 04 on the opening day of the season, Koln have since claimed two decent points on the road against RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt, both of whom will represent Germany in the Champions League this season.
In truth, their 1-1 draw against Frankfurt was far from a classic for the neutrals, with Daichi Kamada's in-swinging free-kick looking like providing the hosts with a vital victory, before substitute Jan Thielmann snatched a point with eight minutes remaining.
On Thursday, meanwhile, Koln secured their qualification for the Europa Conference League with a tremendous 3-0 win away to Fehervar. Having lost 2-1 at home to the Hungarians, goals from Timo Hubers and Ellyes Skhiri turned the tie around, with Kingsley Schindler sealing his side's aggregate victory in injury-time.
With European football for the first time in five seasons to look forward to and clear upward momentum being taken domestically under Steffen Baumgart's tutelage, this could be a special season for Koln, who need to prove they can handle fighting on two fronts when Stuttgart arrive in Cologne on Sunday.
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Stuttgart, meanwhile, remain winless after three matches, having only avoided the relegation playoff by virtue of goal difference last season.
Die Roten were unfortunate to lose 1-0 at home to Freiburg last time out, with Christian Streich's side doing what they do best: soaking up possession and hitting their opponents on the counter-attack and from set-pieces, although the winning goal game from Vincenzo Grifo arriving undetected at the back post to meet Kiliann Sildillia's devilish cross from the right flank.
Having dropped two points via Oliver Burke's last-gasp equaliser for newly-promoted Werder Bremen in their previous match, there is significant pressure on Pellegrino Matarazzo to deliver a positive result against Koln on Sunday, especially with their opponents playing less than 72 hours beforehand.
With Silas and Sasa Kalajdzic combining in attack, and Borna Sosa looking sharp against Freiburg having recently returned from injury, there is every chance they can add to their points tally.
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Team News
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Baumgart made four changes for his side's trip to Hungary on Thursday, with Steffen Tigges and Sargis Adamyan taken out of the attack.
The duo could replace Linton Maina and Florian Dietz on Sunday in order to provide freshness in the final third, while club captain Jonas Hector is likely to slot back into his favoured left-back position.
Dimitris Limnios and Mark Uth remain unavailable through injury.
Stuttgart, meanwhile, could remain unchanged despite losing to Freiburg last time out.
Matarazzo will believe in his side's process having dominated possession across the course of the game, with Sosa and Silas capable of causing havoc down the left flank.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Kilian, Hubers, Hector; Skhiri, Ljubicic, Kainz; Adamyan, Tigges, Thielmann
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Muller; Mavropanos, Anton, Ito; Vagnoman, Endo, Ahamada, Sosa; Fuhrich; Kalajdzic, Silas
We say: FC Koln 1-1 Stuttgart
With Koln potentially more tired than their opponents, we can envisage both sides settling for a share of the spoils on Sunday.
Stuttgart will not want to be beaten twice in a row and although they need to find a win sooner rather than later, they may have to be patient and build slowly.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
