Two sides searching for their first win of the new Bundesliga season at the second attempt will lock horns on Saturday as Arminia Bielefeld play host to FC Koln.
Arminia drew 1-1 with Eintracht Frankfurt in the opening weekend, while Koln succumbed to a 3-2 defeat to Hoffenheim upon their return to action.
Match preview
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Having returned to the pinnacle of German football after an 11-year absence, Arminia were handed the difficult task of trying to overcome a Frankfurt side with aspirations of European qualification for the 2020-21 campaign.
Nevertheless, last season's 2.Bundesliga champions broke the deadlock in the 51st minute through Cebio Soukou, and it took an Andre Silva header for Frankfurt to rescue a point on the opening day.
It is fair to say that Arminia were rather fortunate to walk away with a share of the spoils – Frankfurt registered 18 shots against the newly-promoted outfit – but the scoreline after 90 minutes is the most important statistic and Uwe Neuhaus can feel satisfied with his side's start to the season.
Arminia will now take to the pitch at the SchucoArena for the first time in the German top flight this season, where they amassed a 16-game unbeaten run in the 2.Bundesliga last term and are yet to taste defeat since losing to Schalke in the DFB-Pokal back in October.
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Meanwhile, Koln's winless run in the Bundesliga stretched to 11 games as Hoffenheim edged a five-goal thriller with the Billy Goats last Saturday.
Andrej Kramaric bagged an opening-day hat-trick for Hoffenheim, with his all-important third coming in the dying embers of the match to break Koln hearts and condemn them to yet another home defeat.
Markus Gisdol has not witnessed his side win a top-flight game since the Billy Goats scraped past Paderborn 2-1 back in March before the shutdown, and while Koln may feel more optimistic about their chances of taking all three points against newly-promoted Arminia, the hosts are certainly not to be underestimated.
That being said, Koln have won the last four meetings with Die Arminen when the two sides occupied spots in the second division, and Arminia have not triumphed over the Billy Goats since the 2008-09 Bundesliga campaign.
Arminia Bielefeld Bundesliga form: D
Arminia Bielefeld form (all competitions): LD
FC Koln Bundesliga form: L
FC Koln form (all competitions): WL
Team News
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Neuhaus has a couple of defensive concerns to contend with for gameweek two – Nathan de Medina was forced off after only 13 minutes against Frankfurt with a ligament strain.
Cedric Brunner is therefore set to deputise at right-back, and on the opposite side of defence, Anderson Lucoqui is a doubt after suffering a concussion last Saturday, with Jacob Laursen ready to be called upon.
Sergio Cordova also had to come off in the latter stages against Frankfurt, but the attacker confirmed on Twitter that he was not injured. Sebastian Muller and Andreas Voglsammer remain out, however.
As for Koln, Marco Hoger – playing in an unfamiliar right-back position – was hauled off at half-time against Hoffenheim through injury and will likely concede his place to Kingsley Ehizibue here.
Substitute Dominick Drexler was on hand to tap in for Koln's second last weekend and will be looking to start over Ondrej Duda here.
Anthony Modeste, Florian Kainz, Ismail Jakobs and Benno Schmitz are all still sidelined.
Arminia Bielefeld possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Brunner, Pieper, Hoorn, Laursen; Prietl, Doan, Hartel; Soukou, Klos, Cordova
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Horn; Ehizibue, Bornauw, Czichos, Katterbach; Skhiri, Hector; Rexhbecaj, Drexler, Thielmann; Andersson
We say: Arminia Bielefeld 1-2 FC Koln
Koln will be more motivated than ever to end their winless run following the manner of their defeat against Hoffenheim. Arminia were full value for their opening-day point against Frankfurt but did concede several chances to their opponents, so we expect Koln to edge a closely-fought encounter and register their first three points in six months.
