How evenly the Geißböcke shape the match?
After winning ten competitive matches in a row, FC Bayern München failed to record another victory in their first competitive match of 2023.
The 1-1 draw in Leipzig nevertheless kept the Reds at the top of the table and, with a five-point lead over Frankfurt, they have already secured their place as first-round champions. Now, too, Bayern’s betting on the next three points for the German record champions against Cologne is high on the agenda.
However, the Geißböcke came back from the winter break with a 7:1 victory over Werder Bremen. It was Cologne’s highest Bundesliga win since May 1990 (6-0 against Waldhof Mannheim), which should also factor into the forecast for Bayern against Cologne. However, the Geißböcke picked up just one point out of a possible 48 from their last 16 Bundesliga games against Bayern.
In addition, the FCB are still unbeaten at home and have won their last four Bundesliga home games all in a brilliant manner. The team from the Isar always scored at least four goals in all four home games. After the goal festival against Bremen, however, we also trust the Effzeh to score at least the away goal in the Allianz Arena. The betting on both teams scoring is therefore interesting.
Bayern – Statistics & current form
FC Bayern München won what was already the 32nd national championship in the club’s history last summer, finishing top of the Bundesliga for the tenth time in a row.
Although the table now reads as clear as usual with the Reds five points ahead of current main chaser Eintracht Frankfurt. For long stretches of the first half of the season, however, the FCB definitely had problems to contend with. Nagelsmann’s team only finished eight of the 16 match days in first place.
Unbeaten in 16 league games against Cologne
But given their run of ten consecutive league games won, even the recent 1-1 draw at RB Leipzig failed to damage the Munich side. Instead, the Munich side will be celebrating the first-round championship at home against Cologne on Tuesday evening no matter what.
There’s a lot to be said for celebrating with a win. After all, the Reds have only dropped points once in their last 16 Bundesliga encounters with the Geißböcken (15 wins, one draw). Accordingly, the betting odds on Bayern against Cologne are clearly in favour of the German record champions.
After 16 league games already cracked the 50-goal mark
Still unbeaten at home in the Bundesliga in the 2022/23 season (six wins, two draws). The last four home games in the league were not only all won, but in all four games the offense always scored at least four goals of their own.
The fact that the FCB have already scored 50 goals in 16 league games also suggests that the Effzeh will be a high-scoring affair. A mark that was only broken in the 1976/77 season (back then, FC Bayern only needed 15 league games for 50 goals) and which clearly underlines the Reds’ high level of form.
Predicted Bayern line-up:
Sommer – Davies – de Ligt – Upamecano – Pavard – Goretzka – Kimmich – Gnabry – Musiala – Sané – Choupo-Moting
Last matches played by Bayern:
Bundesliga
21/01/2023 – RB Leipzig 1 – 1 Bayern Munich
Friendly club matches
13/01/2023 – Bayern Munich 4 – 4 RB Salzburg
Bundesliga
13/11/2022 – Schalke 04 0 – 2 Bayern Munich
09/11/2022 – Bayern Munich 6 – 1 Werder Bremen
05/11/2022 – Hertha BSC 2 – 3 Bayern Munich
Cologne – Statistics & current form
At first, 1. FC Köln were able to seamlessly build on their remarkable seventh-place finish in the previous season, which led the Geißböcke into the group stage of the UEFA Conference League. However, because the double burden combined with one or two absences took their toll, the billy goats collapsed shortly before the winter break.
Before the World Cup in Qatar, the Cathedral City side lost three league games in a row and slipped down the table accordingly. All the more impressive was the way in which the Effzeh fought back after the ten-week break.
Started 2023 with highest home win in over 32 years
The Cologne side dispatched SV Werder Bremen with a spectacular 7:1, celebrating their highest Bundesliga win since May 1990 (6:0 against Waldhof Mannheim). The aim now is to build on this in an English week with two away games at Bayern and Schalke.
It is clear that points at the bottom of the table in Gelsenkirchen are almost obligatory. Steffen Baumgart’s team would certainly also take points from the leaders. And after all, no other club in the history of the Bundesliga has managed more away wins at Bayern than the Effzeh (nine).
Last four Bundesliga away games lost in a row
However, practically all the relevant figures and data for Bayern against Cologne argue against betting on the Geißböcke to win a point, as they have recently suffered four defeats in a row away from home in the Bundesliga – one more defeat than in the 16 Bundesliga away games before that (just three).
Predicted line-up of Cologne:
Schwäbe – Hector – Chabot – Hübers – Schmitz – Martel – Skhiri – Kainz – Huseinbasic – Maina – Tigges
Last matches played by Köln:
Bundesliga
22/01/2023 – 1. FC Köln 7 – 1 Werder Bremen
Club friendlies
14/01/2023 – 1. FC Köln 5 – 0 Lommel
07/01/2023 – 1. FC Köln 4 – 0 Hamburger SV
21/12/2022 – 1. FC Köln 1 – 0 Meppen
20/11/2022 – 1. FC Köln 2 – 4 VfB Stuttgart
Bayern – Cologne Direct comparison / H2H balance
Head to head: 55 – 23 – 24
There have been a total of 102 meetings between the two teams so far and with 55 victories, FC Bayern clearly leads the duel with a win rate of 53.9%. Most recently, the Munich side dropped points in only one of the last 16 duels with the Geißböcken (15 wins, one draw).
Bayern – Cologne tip
For Bayern against Cologne, the odds are heavily in favour of the home side, who not only have an excellent home record in general, winning all of their last four home games in the Bundesliga and always scoring at least four goals. But the Reds also have a strong record against the Geißböcke in particular, having picked up 46 of a possible 48 points against them recently.
Basically, however, the Cathedral City team has nothing to lose in Munich. Accordingly, the forecast for Bayern against Cologne is that the cheeky Baumgart team will at least score an away goal on the Isar.
