Koln vs Borussia Dortmund: Where to Watch, Buy Tickets, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News
After coming so close to toppling the mighty Bayern Munich last season, Dortmund kicked off their new season with a 5-1 thrashing of Augsburg.
They were given an early boost after their toughest title contenders underwhelmed with a 2-2 draw at home to Hertha Berlin.
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And Lucien Favre's side will be optimistic of extending their lead over Bayern during their Friday night fixture against Koln, who lost 2-1 in their opening match to Wolfsburg.
Here's 90min's preview of the upcoming Bundesliga tie.
Where to Watch
When is Kick Off? | Friday 23 August |
What Time is Kick Off? | 19:30 (BST) |
Where is it Played? | Rhein Energie Stadium |
TV Channel/Live Stream? | BT Sport |
Referee? | N/A |
Where to Buy Tickets
Tickets for the game are, as ever, available on both team's official club websites, though membership is required in order to purchase. In terms of resale, both teams provide the option to make season tickets available for others to use, if a supporter is unable to attend the game themselves.
Team News
The visitors will undoubtedly be looking for a similarly impressive performance to their opening day on this weekend, so may not make too many changes to their starting XI; despite the myriad of new talent on their bench.
Thorgan Hazard was the only new name on the teamsheet while the promising Julian Brandt made an appearance off the bench, scoring the fifth goal of the game.
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Koln will still be without a handful of players such as Niklas Hauptmann, Ismail Jakobs, Noah Katterbach and Christian Clemens, none of which featured in the loss to Wolfsburg.
Predicted Lineups
Koln | Horn; Ehizibue, Mere, Czichos, Hector, Hoger, Verstraete, Schindler, Drexler, Kainz, Modeste. |
Borussia Dortmund | Hitz; Piszczek, Akanji, Hummels, Schulz, Weigl, Witsel, Sancho, Reus, Hazard, Alcacer. |
Head to Head Record
This won't come as pleasant reading for Koln fans, but they'd hardly be expecting anything more considering Dortmund are one of the Bundesliga's powerhouses.
BVB haven't been anywhere near as dominant in this fixture historically as many might have expected.
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Of the 87 encounters, they've run out victorious in less than half accumulating 36 wins, just eight more than Koln's 28, while the two sides have drawn 23 times.
A few of those draws have come in recent years, but Dortmund have unsurprisingly remained on top defeating Friday's opponents 3-2 and 5-0 on the last two occasions.
Recent Form
We already know Dortmund have made the better start to the 2019/20 campaign, currently finding themselves joint top of the table on goal difference with RB Leipzig.
But other than the first group of Bundesliga matches, we only have pre-season results to go on, and even they're a positive sign for Lucien Favre's men.
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His side scored for fun during the summer break producing a 6-0 victory, scoring four times in another two matches and even comfortably beating Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Supercup.
The same can't be said for Koln's pre-season form; losses to Southampton, Villarreal and Werder Bremen seem to suggest Dortmund shouldn't have much problem on Friday night either.
Here's how they've got on in their last five fixtures.
Koln | Borussia Dortmund |
Wolfsburg 2-1 Koln (17/08) | Dortmund 5-1 Augsburg (17/08) |
Wehen Wiesbaden 3-3 Koln (11/08) | Preussen Munster 0-4 Dortmund (10/08) |
Southampton 2-0 Koln (03/08) | Uerdingen 0-2 Dortmund (09/08) |
Koln 1-3 Villareal (28/07) | Dortmund 2-0 Bayern Munich (03/08) |
Koln 3-1 Bologna (26/07) | St. Gallen 1-4 Dortmund (30/07) |
Prediction
It may not appear it at first glance, but there will be things both sides will be looking to improve on when they go head to head on the second matchday.
Koln will be keen to pick up some points while Borussia Dortmund will want to avoid conceding a goal in the first minute of the game, like they did against Augsburg before going level just two minutes later.
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But finding the net hasn't been an issue for BVB all summer and if they can carry this into their next game, they shouldn't have any problem seeing off Koln, even if they do concede.
It would be a major shock if the home side were able to pull off any sort of result.
Prediction: Koln 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
