• All-but doomed Schalke enter this Revierderby having suffered consecutive home defeats by a three-plus goal margin for the first time during their current dreadful run of just one victory from their last 37 Bundesliga outings.
• Relegation-threatened Parma have lost nine Serie ‘A’ matches across the last ten rounds, scoring just three goals during the run.
Image: /REUTERS
FC Koln vs Stuttgart Saturday 5:30 pm
A 2-0 defeat last time out ended a promising two-game winning Bundesliga run for the hosts, who remain just a few points above the drop zone. This will certainly worry manager Markus Gisdol considering they have conceded in five straight head-to-head matches.
An even greater worry will come from the hosts’ terrible form at home, where they’ve picked up only one of their five Bundesliga wins this season, and subsequently just 28.57 per cent of their points.
Despite winning just one of their previous six Bundesliga matches, Stuttgart remains closer to the European places than the relegation zone, but after scoring first and going winless in two of their last three competitive games, the visitors will be keen to reverse their poor form and continue what is still their best top-flight season since 2015/16.
Stuttgart is one of the division’s best away sides and ahead of this round, no team has scored more goals on average per Bundesliga road trip than them.
Head-to-head
3/10/20 BUN Stuttgart FC Koln 1 : 1
04/03/18 BUN FC Koln Stuttgart 2 : 3
13/10/17 BUN Stuttgart FC Koln 2 : 1
11/01/17 CF FC Koln Stuttgart 0 : 0
23/01/16 BUN FC Koln Stuttgart 1 : 3
Schalke vs Dortmund Saturday 8:30 pm
All-but doomed Schalke enter this Revier derby having suffered consecutive home defeats by a three-plus goal margin for the first time during their current dreadful run of just one victory from their last 37 Bundesliga outings. Also of concern will be the fact they’ve lost at half time/ full time in three consecutive games here for the first time during that period.
Their drought-ending win at home to Hoffenheim in early January was one of just two occasions in which Schalke have managed to score before half time at home this season. Their last seven Bundesliga defeats of at least a two-goal margin at any venue have been accompanied by a half time draw or a deficit of no more than one goal.
Dortmund are likely to continue that trend, as 72.22 per cent of the 18 goals they’ve scored across their last ten Bundesliga matches have been registered in the second half. During that time, none of their four victories saw them lead at half time, although a positive start is surely needed as Dortmund’s last six league road trips have all been won by the team that scored first.
Head-to-head
24/10/20 BUN Dortmund Schalke 3 : 0
16/05/20 BUN Dortmund Schalke 4 : 0
26/10/19 BUN Schalke Dortmund 0 : 0
27/04/19 BUN Dortmund Schalke 2 : 4
08/12/18 BUN Schalke Dortmund 1 : 2
Parma vs Udinese Sunday 2:30 pm
Relegation-threatened Parma have lost nine Serie ‘A’ matches across the last ten rounds, scoring just three goals during the run. The club’s worst-ever top-flight winless streak accompanies a league-low of only 15 goals so far.
In addition to seeing half of their last eight Serie ‘A’ home matches stand goalless at half time, Parma have lost five straight matches here, trailing at half time in four, whilst scoring no goals during the run. Head-to-head history implies an imminent change in fortunes though, as they have found the net in six of the last seven mutual clashes here, netting exactly twice four times.
The first loss in five Serie ‘A’ matches saw Udinese fail to strengthen their mid-table position and disrupted their attempted march towards a first top-half finish since 2013. The visitors should be aware of another winless streak, as their previous two wins were preceded by nine winless matches.
Additionally, only two teams have scored less than their 23 top-flight goals (home/away) this term. However, the visitors have been entertaining when travelling recently, as six of their last eight away league matches have witnessed both teams score, whilst four featured over 3.5 match goals.
Head-to-head
8/10/20 SA Udinese Parma 3 : 2
26/01/20 SA Parma Udinese 2 : 0
01/09/19 SA Udinese Parma 1 : 3
19/01/19 SA Udinese Parma 1 : 2
19/08/18 SA Parma Udinese 2 : 2