(Football news) The two teams meet for the first time since the opening weekend of the season back in August last year when Dortmund claimed a slender 1-0 victory at Westfalenstadion. Koln missed the chance to climb out of the bottom two in the Bundesliga after they were held to 1-1 draw by Heidenheim in their first game of 2024 last weekend – dropping points from a winning position for the fifth time this season.

David Selke netted his fifth goal of the campaign to open the scoring just before the half-hour mark, but Heidenheim fought back and rescued a point courtesy of a second-half strike from substitute Adrian beck.

Timo Schultz’s side, who have won just one of their last nine league games since the end of October, were one of five teams in the bottom six who picked up a point in gameweek 17, and as a result remain 17th in the table, level on points with Mainz 05 in the relegation playoff position and three points adrift of Union Berlin in 15th spot.

Challenging times are ahead for Koln both on an off the pitch, as the club are forced to contend with two full seasons with a transfer embargo following a ruling upheld by the Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS) last month. Schultz is therefore tasked to get the best out of the players at his disposal in their bid to avoid the drop.

Koln’s form on home soil could be key to their survival considering that they have picked up six of their 11 points this season across their last five matches at RheinEnergieStadion; the Billy Goats have also lost just two of their last eight home meetings with Dortmund, which bodes well ahead of Saturday’s clash.

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