Duisburg – FC Koln SOCCER PICKS
In the 2nd Bundesliga, a duel of absolute contrasts will take place on the 26th matchday, when the third-last Duisburg league leaders will receive Cologne in this ever-controversial confrontation between two tradition-laden Western clubs. The host Meidericher remained after 8 defeats from 9 games last unbeaten three times in a row (1 win, 2 draws) and have thereby given the “red lantern”. Now, the “Zebras” want to continue this series against the leaders from the cathedral city and dream secretly of a repeat of the first leg, as the MSV to the debut of coach Torsten Lieberknecht sensationally won 2-1 at the Eff-Zeh.
The Cologne have their crisis to the start of the second round with three defeats from four games impressively overcome and the last four games won. Here, the Effzeh benefited above all from returnee Anthony Modeste, who seamlessly ties in with the long-awaited game clearance to old heights. While everything is going well again, President Spinner’s resignation threatens to lead to a chaos of leadership. Without drama, the geese goats rarely stop ..
In the heated West Derby between Duisburg and Cologne, the guests are clearly favored by the prognosis.
Duisburg:
In Duisburg, an old football rule gets new food, that the second year after the rise is always the hardest. The MSV came after a big head start before the start of the round just not on track and crawled away from the start of the season at the end of the table. Above all, departures of top performers such as Bajic, Onuegu or keeper Marc Flekken Meidericher could not fully compensate until the present time. Also, the change of coach last fall brought only short-term improvement. Torsten Lieberknecht had a sensational 2: 1 at the upcoming opponents Cologne an absolute dream debut, but after a brief upward trend after the MSV collapsed completely. In addition to missing leadership players especially the often desolate defense became a problem. With 42 goals against Duisburg has the second worst defense of the league behind Darmstadt. But recently an uptrend was unmistakable. After eight defeats from nine games before, the “Zebras” have now been unbeaten in three games and have at least improved on the relegation place. After the goalless draw in Aue and the eminently important “Last Minute Victory” in the relegation missile against Magdeburg last managed a considerable 1-1 at home strong Regensburg. Wolze was able to equalize the lead of the hosts from the first half with a penalty kick. Keeper Felix Wiedwald, who clearly stabilized the previously fragile defense on his return to the MSV in January this year, proved to be the savior of the point win as well as a straight goal in the last three games. Now Duisburg wants to continue the current upward trend against leaders Cologne, but the Meidericher plague in front of this always explosive West Derby considerable personnel worries.
After numerous long-term failures during the week Wolze and Stoppelkamp were absent due to illness, coach Torsten Lieberknecht has canceled a training session. While both are probably ready for action against Cologne, Baffoe, Bomheuer, Neumann, Gartner and Tashchy will not lose less than five top performers. At the Westschlager between Duisburg and Cologne, the guests from the quotas are absolute outsiders.
Cologne:
On Ash Wednesday, not even in the carnival stronghold Cologne is over! On the contrary, the Eff Toe it came just this day to the big bang! The longtime President Werner Spinner announced his premature resignation, because there were differences according to his presentation about the current and future direction of the Billy Goats.
This was preceded by a week-long dispute with Cologne sporting director Armin Veh. Nonetheless, there is nothing concrete about the concrete content of these dissonances, even to insiders. Rather, it seems again to be one of those homemade crises that have ravaged the Rhenish cult club too often, especially in recent history. “The greatest suffering is that which one inflicts on oneself” – this old adage fits the Effzeh like the famous fist on the eye. Against the background of the current dissonance, it is more than reassuring that the Domstädter after three failures from four games to the backround prelude at least sporty with four wins in a row have found their way back into the track. Substantial part of this has returnee Anthony Modeste, who found after the hiccups for the granting of his game permission immediately to old strength. This is all the more important as the citizens of the city are plaguing massive staffing problems ahead of their upcoming away fixture in Duisburg. While top scorer Simon Terodde (tonsillitis) definitely fails, Rafael Czichos and Dominik Drechsler labor on stubborn colds that make a use on the weekend questionable. This also applies to Marcel Risse, who had to be hospitalized on Tuesday for an allergic shock. With whatever staff – Cologne wants under all circumstances to take revenge for the embarrassing 1: 2 home defeat from the first leg!
