Hoeness: "Cologne vulnerable under constant pressure"

Sebastian Hoeness on…

…the personnel situation: "Kevin Vogt's shoulder injury is not as serious as we initially feared. Nonetheless, there are big question marks about his availability to face Cologne. We otherwise have two or three minor injuries in the team but they're not really worth mentioning. But perhaps we can call upon Pavel Kadeřábek, who is still in training and feels good."

…TSG's record in the first half-season: "We obviously had a negative experience with the Schalke game. Although, as I have already emphasised before, it didn't feel like that in the first half. On the other hand, the victory against Bayern was a special occasion, and the Europa League matches were lovely moments too. But I cannot pick out any single negative or positive moment."

…the match against 1. FC Cologne in the first half-season: "It feels like a long time ago to me; a lot has happened in the meantime. But obviously we have positive memories of the victory in Cologne, and it was my first Bundesliga game. There has been some change at Cologne in the past few months, so we'll focus more on their most recent matches to prepare ourselves for the game."

…the opposition's weaknesses: "I watched the game against Schalke; it could obviously have gone in both directions. Cologne are extremely dangerous from set-pieces. But after conceding the goal that made it 1-1, they were visibly struggling mentally and came under pressure. The team withstood this, however, and later scored the goal to make it 2-1. That speaks volumes for Cologne, but we've also seen that the team are vulnerable when under constant pressure. We absolutely want to win the match." 

…the defensive stability in the past two matches: "Since the start of the year, we've spent a lot of time on the training ground and several elements of our defensive work are now bearing fruit. Overall, we've become more stable, especially in terms of our personnel situation and our processes. Moreover, we have a good attitude on the pitch, as we showed against Hertha. We did a few things off the ball in particular that I really liked. The team fought with each other, our strikers were tracking back and our defenders worked hard to contain their man."

The opposition's form:

The 2-1 win over FC Schalke 04 was only the third time that 1. FC Cologne have tasted victory in the past 26 Bundesliga matches. The three points picked up in Gelsenkirchen leave Markus Gisdol's team in 16th place in the table with 15 points. Below them in 17th and 18th place respectively are Schalke 04 and FSV Mainz 05, who have seven points apiece.

Head-to-head record:

TSG Hoffenheim and 1. FC Cologne have faced each other competitively on 24 occasions – of which three were in the DFB Cup and two in the Bundesliga 2. The Kraichgau club have the superior record with 10 wins to the Billy Goats' eight, while there have also been six draws. Hoffenheim have fared particularly well in their last seven meetings: TSG have six wins and one draw against the men from the Cathedral City since the start of the 2016/17 season.

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