The Geißböcke host Borussia Dortmund in their last home game in the first half of 2015/16 campaign. It will be a hard game for Peter Stöger's men.

1. FC Köln's last home games were not exactly brilliant. It was in September, when the Geißböcke's stadium announcer Michael Trippel last announced a home goal-scorer; when Anthony Modeste scored the opener against FC Ingolstadt. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. The last home win was the 1-0 derby triumph against Borussia Mönchengladbach, with the Foals' head coach Lucien Favre resigning after this crucial defeat. 

The game against Borussia Dortmund might be different. Tuchel's men have played very well in recent weeks, apart from some unlucky performances in the Europa League against FK Krasnodar and PAOK Saloniki. 

An important game

For Thomas Tuchel's team, a win would be crucial to stay within reach of front runner FC Bayern München. Even a draw can be like a defeat for BVB, because the difference between FCB and BVB would grow to seven points; provided that the Bavarians win in the away game against Hannover 96.

Thomas Tuchel will hope to have a similar sized smile on his face come full-time on Saturday. (Image credit: Kicker - Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel will hope to have a similar sized smile on his face come full-time on Saturday. (Image credit: Kicker - Getty Images)

Dortmund's most potent goalscorer at the moment is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabonese international has scored 18 goals in 16 games so far, which is already more than he scored in the whole 2013-14 and 2014-15 campaigns. Now that the star of the team, Marco Reus, has missed a lot of games due to small injuries, the 26-year-old is even more important for the black and yellow attack. 

It is possible that Anthony Modeste, who did not manage to score in the last few games, will be starting on the bench for once. With Yuya Osako and Simon Zoller waiting in the wings, the effzeh could begin the game could begin with those two up front.

The referee

Knut Kircher will be the match official. He will be helped by Tobias Kempter and Steffen Schiffner as linesmen and Günther Perl as fourth official.  The Müngersdorfer Stadion is sold out, 50000 fans will be supporting the teams.

Predicted line-ups

1. FC Köln: Horn - Olkowski, Maroh, Heintz, Hector - Risse, M. Lehmann, Gerhardt, Bittencourt - Zoller, Osako.

Borussia Dortmund: Bürki - Ginter, Sokratis, Hummels, Schmelzer - Gündogan, Weigl, Kagawa - H. Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang, Castro.