Geißböcke visit Frankfurt

The start of Rückrunde for Köln had to be considered a reasonable success as die Geißböcke held Wolfsburg to a 1-1 draw. Although burdened with a number of absences due to injury Christoph Daum's lineup showed very good discipline, kept good shape and limited the explosive Wolfsburg attack.

This week they face a very formidable opposition in Eintracht Frankfurt and although lower on the table that die Wölfe, they are likely more of a problem to overcome. Friedhelm Funkel's club have seen their season weighed down heavily with injuries but once healthy are likely to play at a level of the top six to eight of the table. With Alexander Meier returning to their lineup, Adler scoring threats will soar and Köln will need to stress width and shape to keep them under control. Their recent addition of Nikola Petković from Crvena zvezda will pose further problems as the Serbian international has an eye for the attack.

Christoph Daum has Milivoje Novakovič and Pedro Geromel back in the lineup but Taner Yalcin who did well in his debut last week will miss do to a thigh injury along with Pierre Wome. For Frankfurt goalkeeper Markus Pröll is questionable and they will also miss Christoph Preuß, Ümit Korkmaz, Christoph Spycher, Ioannis Amanatidis and Bosnian capped Zlatan Bajramović.

Defending will once again be the key to success as Köln searches for an important "away" victory that could draw them level with Werder by the end of the day.