FC Koln will be aiming to return to winning ways when they take on Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on Wednesday.
The visitors, meanwhile, moved outside of the relegation places after stunning Union Berlin at the weekend.
Koln’s fourth match in 10 days ended in a 2-0 defeat away to Freiburg on Sunday, with Steffen Baumgart’s side languishing in 12th position as a result.
Having been dumped out of the Europa Conference League after failing to beat Nice at home as was required in order to progress on Thursday, claiming a positive result away from home against one of the division’s in-form teams always felt like being a tall order for Koln.
Both sides appeared to be tired from their European exertions during a quiet first half, but goals from Jeong Woo-yeong and Michael Gregoritsch either side of the hour mark took the game away from the visitors.
Baumgart will be hoping for a much better performance from his side at RheinEnergieStadion on Wednesday, when they will need to be on their game against an opponent likely to be full of confidence after registering a huge win at the weekend.
Indeed, very few people could have seen Leverkusen’s 5-0 win against Union Berlin coming on Sunday, with the victory moving them out of the bottom three and denying their opponents a return to the top of the table in the process.
All five goals for Xabi Alonso’s side came during a crazy 30-minute period after the half-time interval, with Moussa Diaby bagging a brace within the space of three minutes to leave the visitors stunned.
As a result, Leverkusen climbed one point above Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart in the table, although with those two teams playing each other on Tuesday, they are guaranteed to find themselves below one of them again before kicking-off in Cologne 24 hours later.
However, with a home match against Stuttgart to come in their final match before breaking for the World Cup, Alonso’s side’s destiny is back in their own hands in terms of ending this period outside of the bottom three, which would help them focus on moving even further up the table when they return to action after Christmas.
FC Koln Bundesliga form:
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FC Koln form (all competitions):
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Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga form:
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Bayer Leverkusen form (all competitions):
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We say: FC Koln 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
We can envisage Leverkusen building on their huge win against Union Berlin at the weekend with another victory.
Koln look a little out of sorts at present having had their amount of matches compiled by numerous injuries, with the visitors undoubtedly possessing the attacking ability to punish them.