VFL Bochum is coming from an impressive away win against Hamburg while 1.FC Köln is coming from an upsetting home loss against Hoffenheim. Two teams are in a different type of mood before this match and the one on good form generally are favourites but there should be other reasons to have a reliable prediction. Let’s see if there are any…

1.FC Köln have been trying to cope with some inside problems. Recently Novakovic was dropped from the captain status because of the clash with the manager. There are also some reports pointing that the players are not comfortable with the tactical approach applied by the manager.

VFL Bochum on the other hand are pretty in a good mood with high morale. They have actually one of the weakest squads in the league but they seemed to sort things out and create a team at least fighting on the pitch out of it. The bad news from their side is the World Cup Play-Off heroes Slovenia attacker Zlatko Dedic was diagnoed by flu and reported to be out for this match. The other World Cup Play-Off heroes Algeria defender Yahia will miss this match due to injury, too.

1.FC Köln will be without star player Podolski through suspension while Novakovic might face a drop from the starting line-up; up to managers decision. Team has already a bad reputation with its defensive approach to the games and without creative attackers it makes it even worse from that point of view.

As for the prediction; I expect a solid performance from VFL Bochum even they have a arguable lower squad quality. Few of their players are in a good shape and a 1.FC Köln in crisis can be a good opportunity for them to produce something. The only concern here is as mentioned VFL Bochum have a squad that is below the league standards plus some missings for this match due to injuries makes it hard to rely on them even against struggling opponents. Therefore, I ‘ll go for a double chance in favor of VFL Bochum to cover the risk.

Prediction
VFL Bochum | 1X Double Chance
Extras
Draw at HT | VFL Bochum at FT