The Saturday evening Bundesliga match is often called the "top game". The team names don't seem to suggest that, but given the fact that they are fourth (1. FC Köln) eighth (Eintracht Frankfurt), respectively, it could be a quite entertaining match.
Köln have only won one of the last 19 Saturday evening fixtures, and have lost the away game in Frankfurt last campaign 2-3 - of course, on a Saturday evening. But Köln's coach, Peter Stöger, isn't frightened at all by these statistics: "I have heard about so many statistics since I've been in charge here, but I don't really care about these numbers. Every run ends."
Key players
For Frankfurt, Alexander Meier, who won last year's campaign Golden Boot with 19 goals, is back on the pitch after a long injury. He has scored four goals in the matches against Cologne, presenting a huge threat for goalkeeper Timo Horn and his men.
As opposed to last season, Köln's offensive line is in good shape. All four offensive players, Anthony Modeste, Simon Zoller, Philipp Hosiner and Yūya Ōsako, have already scored in at least one of the three league games.
But also the new-look defensive line with both centre-backs Dominique Heintz and Frederik Sørensen being new signings has worked well; three goals conceded in three games so far is a fair amount for a rather small team like 1. FC Köln.
Team news
Alexander Meier is back for Eintracht Frankfurt, improving Armin Veh's options in the attack. For Cologne, former starter, Dominic Maroh, is back but will most likely start from the bench.
Predicted line-ups
Eintracht Frankfurt: Hradecky - Ignjovski, Zambrano, Russ, Oczipka - Reinartz - Aigner, Castaignos - Stendera - Meier, Seferovic.
1. FC Köln: Horn - Olkowski, Sörensen, Heintz, Hector - Risse, Vogt, M. Lehmann, Bittencourt - Zoller, Modeste.