Batman Petrolspor
Afyonspor Kulübü
Hırvatistan
Portekiz
Polonya
İskoçya
İspanya
İsviçre
Sırbistan
Danimarka
Kosova
Litvanya
Romanya
G. Kıbrıs
Bulgaristan
Belarus
Lüksemburg
Kuzey İrlanda
Lihtenştayn
San Marino
İsrail
Belçika
İtalya
Fransa
Hindistan
Malezya
Singapur
Tayvan
Record against Köln
Overall: 104 games. 37 wins, 26 draws, 41 defeats. 168:162 goal difference.
In the Bundesliga: 94 games. 32 wins, 26 draws, 36 defeats. 154:147 goal difference.
Looking back
VfB kept a clean sheet in both their games against Köln last season. The teams’ first meeting ended goalless, but efforts from Gil Dias, Borna Sosa and Tanguy Coulibaly earned VfB a 3-0 victory in Stuttgart in the return fixture.
Reunited
In Davie Selke, Köln have a former VfB youth player in their ranks.
VfB trio Serhou Guirassy, Chris Führich and Nikolas Nartey have all enjoyed spells with the Billy Goats.
Goals
The 94 Bundesliga encounters between the sides have produced 301 goals, at an average of 3.2 goals per game.
There have been eight goalless draws, the most recent of which was in Cologne during the first half of the 2022/23 campaign.
Four of the teams’ past meetings have produced seven goals. VfB emerged 6-1 winners in October 1968 and June 1991, while Köln won 5-2 in April 1969 and February 1974.
Purple patch
Guirassy has scored or assisted a goal in 12 of his last 13 competitive appearances for VfB. He wasn’t directly involved in VfB’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim on the final day of last season but has since racked up 14 goals in ten Bundesliga appearances, as well as a goal and an assist in VfB’s DFB Cup first-round win in Balingen. He also scored in VfB’s relegation play-off first-leg win over Hamburger SV before claiming an assist in the return leg.
Personnel
VfB will definitely be without Nikolas Nartey and Wooyeong Jeong, who has helped South Korea reach the quarter-finals of the Asian Games football tournament. Saturday afternoon’s match also comes too soon for Josha Vagnoman. “Josha is training with us after making a great recovery from his long-term injury, and he’s setting an example in training,” Hoeneß said. “I’m expecting him to join us in Wolfsburg, but there’s a chance he might only return after the next international break.”
