FC Cologne vs Mainz Preview

Ambitious Cologne will be hoping to win this match to at least give themselves a chance to play in Europe next season while Mainz will be hoping to continue their recent upturn in form.

Cologne are currently 7^th in the league table with 46 points, just two points behind Freiburg who are 6^th and in the final European position in the league table with 48 points.

However, they have a better goal advantage over Freiburg and if they win this game and Freiburg drop points, they will topple them on the standings.

They have no losses in their last 4 league games but they managed to win only one of those games with 3 draws.

They have 3 wins from their last 5 league games at home, and they need to add to that tally with a win here.

Mainz have not had the best season this year as they are currently languishing 13^th position with 37 pints, just 2 points above relegation playoffs zone.

They have won just 2 of their last 6 league games, and won only 10 of their 33 games this season.

They need to win this game to guarantee their safety.

Their recent away form is not so good as they have no wins from their last 5 matches away from home, with 3 ending in losses.

However, they did not lose either of their last 2 away games and they will be looking to grab at least a point here as the season comes to a close.

Cologne: Horn – Klünter, Sörensen, Subotic, Heinz – Hector, Lehmann, Jojic, Bittencour – Osako, Modeste

Coach: Peter Stöger

Absentees: Guirassy (groin), Risse (knee)

Mainz: Huth – Donati, Bell, Balogun, Brosinski – Gbamin, Frei – Öztunali, Bojan – Muto, Cordoba

Coach: Martin Schmidt

Absentees: Müller (hip), Serdar (under-20 World Cup), De Blasis (suspended)

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Last time they met: Mainz 05 0-0 1. FC Köln

Other fixtures taking place this week in the German Bundesliga:

German Bundesliga Table

German Bundesliga Results