Bottom side Cologne are drinking in the last-chance saloon ahead of second-placed Schalke's visit to the RhineEnergieStadion on Sunday (kick-off: 06:00 PM CEST/ 04:00 PM GMT/ 12:00 PM EST).
Latest
Marooned in the automatic relegation zone since Matchday 2, the game is almost up for Cologne. The Billy Goats begin the weekend with an eight-point deficit on the relegation play-off spot, and know that anything other than a win against Schalke will effectively put an end to any lingering survival hopes with only three games left after this one. Whatever happens, Stefan Ruthenbeck's tenure as coach will come to an end at the end of the season, with Holstein Kiel's Markus Anfang having this week agreed to take over in the summer. Vincent Koziello, an unused substitute last weekend, and Simon Terodde are pushing for starts following the 2-1 defeat to Hertha Berlin. Defenders Dominic Maroh and Jannes Horn are available again after illness.
Ominously for Cologne, Schalke have won seven of their last eight Bundesliga games and can secure UEFA Champions League qualification with a win, assuming RB Leipzig, Hoffenheim (who play each other) and Eintracht Frankfurt all drop points. The Royal Blues were beaten 1-0 by Frankfurt in their DFB Cup semi-final tie in midweek, however, ending their hopes of adding a first piece of silverware to the cabinet for seven years. Bastian Oczipka was rested at the Veltins Arena, and should start. Yevhen Konoplyanka, Franco Di Santo - second-half substitutes against Frankfurt - and Max Meyer are also likely to be involved from the off.
Watch: Schalke were too good for Dortmund in the Revierderby
Probable line-ups
Cologne: Horn – Sörensen, Mere, Heintz, Hector – Clemens, Koziello, Özcan, Bittencourt – Pizarro, Osako
Absentees: Queiros (back), Guirassy (ankle), Zoller (thigh)
Coach: Stefan Ruthenbeck
Schalke: Fährmann – Stambouli, Naldo, Kehrer – Caligiuri, Goretzka, Meyer, Oczipka – Konoplyanka, Burgstaller, Di Santo
Absentees: Nastasic (knee ligament), Embolo (muscle strain)
Coach: Domenico Tedesco
Match stats
Cologne are facing their sixth relegation from the Bundesliga, following four successive seasons of top-flight football.The Billy Goats have just four points from their last six games, and have dropped points from winning positions in six games under Ruthenbeck, leaving them potentially 15 points worse off.Claudio Pizarro, the Bundesliga's leading non-German goalscorer, has found the net just once in 13 top-flight appearances for Cologne this term.Schalke's Naldo has scored in his last two matches, taking his total to the season for seven. No other defender has more this season, and it is the best haul of his Bundesliga career.Ralf Fährmann has failed to keep a clean sheet in any of his 11 Bundesliga matches against Cologne.There has not been a goalless draw in this fixture since March 1996, and none at all in the 41 Bundesliga meetings in Cologne.
Source: bundesliga.com