#KOETSG: Defensively solid Hoffenheim up against favourite foe

Did you know that…

…TSG are on a run against 1. FC Cologne?

TSG have won their last eight Bundesliga meetings with 1. FC Cologne – the longest winning run that Hoffenheim have ever enjoyed against an opponent in the Bundesliga. Cologne's only longer ongoing losing streak is against FC Bayern (nine matches).

…Cologne's defence is wobbling at the moment?

1. FC Cologne have conceded five goals in two of their last three Bundesliga games. That had only happened once in the first 42 Bundesliga games under Steffen Baumgart – in a 5-0 loss to TSG Hoffenheim in October 2021.

…Hoffenheim's rearguard looks solid?

Only the top two teams in the table, Union Berlin and Bayern (eight each), have conceded fewer goals than TSG Hoffenheim to date (12). The 2009/10 season is the only previous campaign in which TSG had a better defensive record at this stage (nine goals conceded).

…Baumgartner and Baumgart have contrasting experiences of this fixture?

Similar names but different records: Christoph Baumgartner has scored four goals in five Bundesliga games against the Billy Goats – his best record against any team. He has also won every game against Cologne, whose coach Steffen Baumgart has not won any of his four Bundesliga games against Hoffenheim – either with Paderborn or 1. FC Cologne. There's no other club against which Baumgart has a lower goal average as a coach (0.25, one goal in four matches).

…Cologne tend to get going in the second half?

1. FC Cologne have scored 14 of their 19 goals this season in the second half - the most second-half goals of any club. Yet they have not found the net at all in the opening quarter of an hour – a period in which TSG have already scored three times.

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