In today’s Oddsdigger 1. FC Koln vs Hannover 96 preview, we take a look at a Bundesliga fixture with plenty riding on the result. The home side are still rooted to the bottom of the division and though they have shown signs that they can recover, time is running out fast. The away side are within touching distance of the Europa League qualification places and need a win this week to keep them in the hunt.
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Die Geißböcke’s loss at the weekend at Eintracht Frankfurt was their second successive league defeat, bringing to an end an unbeaten run of four Bundesliga matches for the relegation favourites. It’s worth remembering for our 1. FC Koln vs Hannover 96 betting tips later that Stefan Ruthenbeck’s team have won just three of their twenty-two league contests in 2017/18. 1. FC Koln can close the gap on second from bottom Hamburg to just one point if they can win this week.
Hannover 96 sit in 9th spot in the current Bundesliga table and are within three points of Schalke 04 in the last Europa League qualification spot. Die Roten have amassed most of their points at home this season and are actually the fourth strongest team in the German top flight on home form alone. André Breitenreiter’s men have won just two of their eleven fixtures away from the HDI-Arena however. Only five teams in the league have fared worse on the road. Check out our free below.
We start today’s German football tips and 1. FC Koln vs Hannover 96 bets with a dip into the outright markets. Die Geißböcke’s 2018 resurgence might have been short-lived, though they are still a much more competitive team than they were in the early parts of their Bundesliga campaign.
Stefan Ruthenbeck has reinvigorated the Koln squad since his appointment just before Christmas and they have lost just two of their last five matches at the RheinEnergieStadion since he took over. The two losses came in narrow defeats to Freiburg (3-4) and more recently Borussia Dortmund (2-3).
Die Roten make the trip to Cologne having drawn their last two away games in the Bundesliga. André Breitenreiter watched as his players carved out a credible 1-1 draw with Schalke before they finished with the same score after a tough match against Hamburg, who sit just once place above their opponents this week. In the reverse fixture between our featured sides earlier in the season, the points were shared after a dour 0-0 stalemate. A similar result is extremely likely this week. The most valuable Bundesliga football betting odds for our first pick are located at William Hill. You won’t find better prices anywhere.
As we detailed in the opening part of today’s 1. FC Koln vs Hannover 96 predictions, these teams already played out a dismal 0-0 draw earlier in the season in a clash that had little to no penalty area action. In fact, only two clubs have scored fewer times in front of their own fans than Die Geißböcke in 2017/18.
Ruthenbeck has been getting a little more out of his attack of late, but the stats still look underwhelming overall. So far this term, they have averaged just one goal per game at the RheineEnergieStadion. Die Roten’s goal getting figures on the road this season are strikingly similar. They have netted just eleven times in eleven away fixtures, average a single goal for every ninety minutes of football.
When these teams meet, sparks rarely fly. There were under 2.5 goals scored in each of their last five encounters since 2014. Interestingly, their most recent three duels had a goal average of just one per contest. Here’s another interesting stat – Hannover have scored one goal or less in each of their last eight Bundesliga away games. With all that information considered, backing under 2.5 goals this week is a clever move, especially at the prices being offered by Bet-at-home.