Despite their unbeaten streak coming unstuck this weekend, Markus Gisdol's Hoffenheim are having a tremendous season. They sit in a comfortable fourth place, seven points adrift of league leaders Bayern Munich, and Gisdol will be looking for three points when they host Köln this weekend.
"The table says it all, they'll be a tough nut to crack"
- Markus Gisdol
Gisdol has been very pragmatic ahead of the game, recognising that it could end up tight, while measuring his opposition for strengths and weaknesses: "The table says it all. Köln are very good at the back, but have had problems going forward. They are a side that play as a team and make it hard for every side they play." Continuing, Gisdol went on to say that Köln be difficult to break down on Saturday: "They’ll be a tough nut to crack, but we want to take our own game onto the pitch. It could be tight for long periods and it could be decided by the tiniest of margins. The manager and the sporting director seem to have the tough media scene in Cologne under control and have built a good team."
Hoffenheim's defeat last weekend brought an end to their nine-match unbeaten run - a club record. Despite the 3-1 loss away to Borussia Monchengladbach, Hoffenheim can have no complaints with their start to the Bundesliga campaign, and fans will be delighted with them occupying fourth spot. Gisdol has gone on record and said: "The loss against Gladbach hasn’t changed anything within the team." One would suspect Hoffenheim to be raring and ready to get back to winning ways as they prepare to host Köln.
Köln's current Bundesliga problems are obvious. With just eight goals conceded in their opening ten games, Peter Stöger's side have the third-best defence in the league, behind only Bayern Munich and Monchengladbach. Yet with just seven goals scored, only Hamburg have a blunter attack. Stöger's side will need to find their shooting boots if they are to move up the league table.
Köln come into the game in reasonable form, but remain inconsistent. After wins against Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen, they came unstuck unexpectedly against SC Freiburg. A second-half penalty just five minutes after the restart was cooly dispatched by Czech midfielder Vladimir Darida, and Köln could not find a way back. Stöger knows his team will have to be sharper in attack if they are to pick up three points this weekend.
