The fight for survival in the Bundesliga will go to the final gameweek, which takes place on Saturday afternoon. The team that looks to be in the biggest trouble, 17th place Koln host already-relegated Schalke.
The Billy Goats head into gameweek 34 knowing that their fate is in the hands of their rivals. One clear thing is to stand a chance of surviving the drop they need to record a victory.
On paper, the leagues bottom team look like easy opponents.
Friedhelm Funkel’s team head into this clash on the back of a goalless draw against Hertha Berlin. Crucially for Hertha, the draw ensured their safety after an underwhelming campaign. Koln’s Bundesliga status is far less assured.
The home side has struggled for goals this season in the German top-flight, as only Arminia Bielefeld and Saturday’s opponents have scored fewer than Koln’s goal tally of 33 in the Bundesliga.
They will need somebody to step up and be a hero in this clash.
Schalke fans will be looking forward to the end of this season, as it has been an awful one for the Royal Blues.
The team from Gelsenkirchen have claimed just 17 points from their 33 league outings so far this season.
Dimitrios Grammozis’ team picked up just their third league win of the season last time out by recording a 4-3 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt, with youngsters Matthew Hoppe, Blendi Idrizi and Florian Flick all getting on the scoresheet. The win ended a poor run of four straight league defeats.
That victory came at the Veltins Arena. However, Schalke have failed to win away from home in the Bundesliga in 27 outings dating back to November 2019.
Forebet predicts that Koln will record a victory in a high-scoring encounter. However, their survival in the German top-flight will depend on their rivals' results elsewhere.