Berlin United
Berlin United had lost 4-0 to Bayern Munich on matchday 27. They were now three games without a win. Urs Fischer observed as his team scored only four goals in seven previous games. Five of those were goalless.
Avner could not have picked a better time to regain his form in the early seasons. In the first 14 matches of the season, the Nigerian scored nine goals. However, he has only scored once since. Berlin United has been in a difficult situation lately, having fallen from fourth to ninth in their 21st matchday. Union will be buoyed by the imminent return of Christopher Trimell, their captain. Dominic Heinz may also be able to play following his absence against Bayern. Frederic Ronald will make its debut, however, Andreas Lutter has been ruled out.
Cologne
Cologne has also been on a roll these past weeks. The Steffen Baumgart-led team has lost only one of five games, and a win against Berlin United could bring them within two points of fourth.
Modeste, the Billy Goats’ talisman, scored both his team’s goals earlier in the season in the 2-2 draw. However, Modeste has only scored one goal in five games this season and is currently out with a fever. Sebastian Anderson, his strike partner, scored the equalizer in Cologne’s 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund just before the international break. Ondrej Duba was given his fifth yellow card for the season in that draw. He will not travel to the capital. However, Florian Kainz should be fit enough to start. Jan Tillman is also pushing hard for a starting spot, so Marc Uth could be moved to an attacking midfield position alongside Modeste and Anderson.
Match statistics
Avner scored seven of his 11 goals in the 10 first games of the new season. In the first 10 games of the new season, he has scored two goals.
Post-winter blues. The league is now five points worse than at the same stage in the first half of the year.
This will be the 40th league game in all competitions this season (W17 D10 L12). This is the most games a Bundesliga team has ever had to face.
Modeste scored four times in four matches the last time he did not score. He then scored in three consecutive matches (match days 16-18).
Cologne has never defeated the Union in the Bundesliga. The reverse fixture saw a 2-2 draw, ending a four-year streak of defeats against Cologne.
This season, the Billy Goats were involved in six away draws that were league-high.
Line-ups possible
Berlin United
Rono Jekyll, Knoche, Baumgarten-Herdira-Trimmel (C), Halaguchi, Prommel, Gieselmann-Becker, Avonier
Absent: Endo, Lute (muscle), Ujah.
Coach: Urs Fischer
Cologne
Schweber-Echizibue, Killian, Hubers, Hector (C) Skiri, Ozkan Tillman, Uth, Kainz-Andersen
OUT. Duda (suspended), T. Horn (illness), Modeste (illness), Schindler (personal reasons), Schmitz (thigh).
Coach: Steffen Baumgart
Matchups
These encounters in Cologne ended in disappointment, judging by the results since January 31st, 2019. They haven’t won anything, but Union Berlin has been too good, winning 83%.
They scored 17 goals in total between them in these encounters. 12 were from the Union, and 5 were from Cologne. The average goal scoring per game was 2.83.
These two clubs met for the last time on Matchday 11 in the Bundesliga on 7/11/2021. The final score was Cologne 2-2 Union Berlin.
Cologne won 70% possession in that match and had 18 shots. Five of those shots were on target. Anthony Modeste (7′,86′) was their only scorer.
Union Berlin was the other team with 10 shots. Three of them were on target. Grischa Prommer (45’) and Julian Ryerson (9’) scored the goals.
Tobias Stieler refereed the match.
Prediction
Cologne will have to put a lot of pressure on themselves to score against Union Berlin, which we believe will be able to achieve their goals in a winning performance.
We predict a tight encounter between Berlin United and Cologne, with Union Berlin winning 1-0 within 90 minutes.
