Football 
Mixed martial arts Koln vs RB Leipzig Prediction: Team News and Lineups Preview
Scott Thornton has provided his Koln vs RB Leipzig prediction, team news, lineups and fixtures preview ahead of their Friday night meeting in the Bundesliga.
The home side have struggled this season. The clock is ticking on their battle to survive the drop and many feel the best they can hope for is a relegation playoff at this stage. RB Leipzig, on the other hand, have their sights set on Champions League football. Our Koln vs RB Leipzig prediction is for RB Leipzig to win the match 0-3.
- Koln vs RB Leipzig Tip 1: RB Leipzig -1 Asian Handicap
- Koln vs RB Leipzig Tip 2: Both Teams To Score – No
- Koln vs RB Leipzig Tip 3: Lois Openda To Score
Koln vs RB Leipzig Prediction 1: Leipzig to Compound Koln’s Misery
Germany, Bundsliga, Friday, March 15th, 19:30 (UK)
RB Leipzig have ground to make up the race for a Champions League spot. They are a point behind Dortmund, who currently occupy 4th spot, but the gap to Stuttgart in 3rd is seven points. Marco Rose’s side beat Darmstadt, one of the sides battling relegation, 2-0 last weekend and face another candidate for the drop on Friday night. We are backing the Leipzig -1 on the Asian handicap for this one. This means we get our stake returned should they win by one goal.
Koln have been poor in front of their own fans this season. They have won just two of their 12 home matches in the Bundesliga. Scoring goals has been a huge problem during that run, with the team averaging just 0.75 goals per game.
RB Leipzig beat Koln 6-0 when they faced them earlier in the season. Marco Rose’s side ended in the game with an xG of 4.28 and had a four-goal lead by the time Koln were reduced to 10 men. Leipzig took on Bochum, the side directly above Koln in the Bundesliga, in their last away match and won 4-1.
- Koln vs RB Leipzig Prediction 1: RB Leipzig -1 Asian Handicap (TRACKED BET)
- Best Odds: 1.91
- Bookmaker: bet365
- Stake: 8/10
Koln vs RB Leipzig Prediction 2: Home Fans Endure Toothless Displays
Koln are in the thick of a relegation battle and are quickly running out of time to escape. They are seven points adrift of Bochum. Timo Schultz’s side currently sits in the relegation playoff place. Their struggles have been evident in all areas of the pitch, but their attacking statistics paint a damning picture.
Schultz’s men are scoring an average of just 0.76 goals per league game, the fewest in the league. Home advantage doesn’t seem to give them any sort of boost, with the team failing to score in five of their last seven matches at the RheinEnergie Stadium. Not only have Koln scored the fewest goals in the Bundesliga, but they also have the worst xG, with an average of 1.02 per match.
RB Leipzig didn’t concede a single shot on target the last time they visited this ground. Koln had just 38% possession and managed two shots on target when these sides went head-to-head in the reverse fixture. Leipzig should be able to keep Koln at arm’s length once again.
- Koln vs RB Leipzig Prediction 2: Both Teams To Score – No
- Best Odds: 2.10
- Bookmaker: bet365
- Stake: 7/10
Koln vs RB Leipzig Prediction 3: Openda to Add to His Tally
Lois Openda has been Leipzig’s standout attacking player this season. Marco Rose’s side have scored the 4th most goals in the Bundesliga with an average of 1.95 per game. Openda has been an integral part of their attack and should have an impact when they take on a struggling Koln side. The Belgian found the net twice when the sides met earlier in the season.
Openda has bagged 17 goals in 25 league appearances this campaign, marginally over-performing his xG of 16.4. His underlying stats highlight just how much of a threat he is. Lois has a non-penalty xG of 0.763 per 90 minutes played. He also averages 4.2 shots and 6.66 touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes played. Openda ranks in the top 10% of attackers across Europe’s top five leagues in all of those metrics.
The Belgian forward has continued his good form into the 2024. He has netted six league goals in nine league matches this calendar year. Openda is tasked with leading the attack and stretching the opponent’s defensive line. This means he is always a presence in te box so he should cause problems on Friday night.
- Koln vs RB Leipzig Prediction 3: Lois Openda To Score
- Best Odds: 1.72
- Bookmaker: bet365
- Stake: 8/10
Koln vs RB Leipzig Prediction odds via bet365 as at 07:12, March 11th, 2024. Odds may now differ.
Koln vs RB Leipzig Team News and Possible Lineups: Teaser
Koln have a few injury concerns ahead of this clash. They will be without Justin Diehl, Mark Uth and Luca Wadschmidt. Jan Thielman missed the last match after picking up a red card in the 2-0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. The striker will return to the squad for this match.
The only injury concern for Marco Rose is Lukas Klostermann. The defender has been an integral part of this RB Leipzig team for several years. He has a hamstring injury and is unlikely to feature. However, the team still have plenty of options available in defence.
Koln possible starting lineup: Schwabe; Finkgrafe, Chabot, Hubers, Carstensen; Martel, Huseinbasic, Maina, Kainz, Alidou; Adamyan
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup: Gulacsi; Henrichs, Orban, Lukeba, Raum; Kampl, Schlager, Elmas, Simons, Openda, Sesko
The Predicted Koln vs RB Leipzig League Standings by BETSiE
Our in-house predictive model, BETSiE, has had a go at predicting the Bundesliga standings ahead of the Koln vs RB Leipzig, currently 5th vs 16th, fixture by utilising the underlying data from the 2023/24 season up until this point.
For more league-specific BETSiE content including standings, probabilities and predictions, visit her page here – it’s worth it.
Koln vs RB Leipzig Standings Prediction
| Position | Club | Game | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 34 | 25.9 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 82.5 | 26.9 | 55.6 | 83.9 |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 34 | 25.2 | 3.6 | 5.2 | 92.7 | 35.5 | 57.2 | 79.2 |
| 3 | Stuttgart | 34 | 20.7 | 4.2 | 9.1 | 74.0 | 44.0 | 30.0 | 66.3 |
| 4 | RB Leipzig | 34 | 18.7 | 6.2 | 9.1 | 72.4 | 41.7 | 30.8 | 62.4 |
| 5 | Dortmund | 34 | 16.0 | 10.2 | 7.8 | 66.9 | 47.5 | 19.3 | 58.3 |
| 6 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 34 | 11.6 | 12.4 | 10.1 | 51.2 | 49.4 | 1.8 | 47.1 |
| 7 | Freiburg | 34 | 12.2 | 7.5 | 14.3 | 46.7 | 58.9 | -12.2 | 44.2 |
| 8 | Hoffenheim | 34 | 11.7 | 8.3 | 14.0 | 57.6 | 63.1 | -5.5 | 43.4 |
| 9 | Werder Bremen | 34 | 11.1 | 8.5 | 14.5 | 45.5 | 54.4 | -8.8 | 41.7 |
| 10 | Augsburg | 34 | 9.8 | 10.4 | 13.8 | 48.6 | 59.5 | -10.9 | 39.7 |
| 11 | B. Monchengladbach | 34 | 10.1 | 9.5 | 14.5 | 58.0 | 63.1 | -5.1 | 39.6 |
| 12 | Wolfsburg | 34 | 9.8 | 9.4 | 14.8 | 42.4 | 53.4 | -11.0 | 38.8 |
| 13 | Heidenheim | 34 | 9.8 | 9.3 | 14.9 | 46.3 | 61.7 | -15.4 | 38.6 |
| 14 | Union Berlin | 34 | 10.6 | 6.5 | 16.8 | 37.7 | 54.5 | -16.9 | 38.5 |
| 15 | Bochum | 34 | 8.6 | 12.4 | 13.0 | 43.7 | 64.9 | -21.2 | 38.2 |
| 16 | Mainz | 34 | 6.3 | 11.6 | 16.1 | 32.9 | 51.7 | -18.8 | 30.6 |
| 17 | FC Koln | 34 | 5.7 | 10.3 | 18.0 | 28.7 | 58.6 | -29.8 | 27.5 |
| 18 | Darmstadt | 34 | 4.3 | 9.2 | 20.5 | 35.6 | 74.6 | -39.0 | 22.1 |
Match Stats: Koln’s Torrid Run
- With only 19 goals after 25 games, 1. FC Köln have fewest goals in this Bundesliga season – only once have Cologne scored fewer goals at the same point of a season, in the 2001-02 relegation campaign (12). RB have already scored 55 goals, and had only once scored more at the same point of a season, in 2019-20 (third place in the final rankings). With 55 goals, RB currently have the fourth-best attack in the league.
- RB Leipzig are scoring an average of 1.92 goals per away game in the league during this campaign.
- FC Köln have made the most crosses per game in this Bundesliga season (22 on average), but have scored the fewest headed goals in the league (3, like Darmstadt and Augsburg). RB Leipzig, on the other hand, have already scored 10 headed goals – only Bayern (15) and Mönchengladbach (12) scored more.
- RB Leipzig recently won two Bundesliga games in a row for the first time in 2024 – that’s as many victories as in the eight previous BL games combined. However, RB have only won one of their last five away BL games (D2 L2) – 4-1 in their last away game in Bochum.
Koln Fixtures: Bochum Blockbuster Awaits
- Vs Augsburg (A)
- Vs Bochum (H)
- Vs Bayern (A)
- Vs Darmstadt (H)
- Vs Mainz (A)
RB Leipzig Fixtures: Top Four Showdown Within Sight
- Vs Mainz (H)
- Vs Freiburg (A)
- Vs Wolfsburg (H)
- Vs Heidenheim (A)
- Vs Dortmund (H)
Safer Gambling
At bettingexpert, we always take a safe approach to gambling. We’ll never bet more than we can afford or chase losses. For more advice, head to our Safer Gambling hub.
