1. FC Köln v BVB: Probable starting line-ups

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·7 March 2026

1. FC Köln v BVB: Probable starting line-ups

Once again, the top match of this Bundesliga matchday has been assigned to Borussia Dortmund. The venue is Cologne, where the local 1. FC Köln has serious concerns about staying in the league and, accordingly, is under much more pressure than BVB, who had to bid farewell to their title chase last weekend. Here are the probable starting line-ups.

Now that the severity of Emre Can's injury is known, he will have to be permanently sidelined. Two of his teammates are also still injured, resulting in the following short list of absentees for BVB:

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Niklas Süle
Emre Can
Filippo Mane
According to kicker, it is assumed that Niko Kovac will rely on the following line-up for his starting eleven at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion: Gregor Kobel – Ramy Bensebaini, Waldemar Anton, Nico Schlotterbeck – Julian Ryerson, Marcel Sabitzer, Felix Nmecha, Daniel Svensson – Julian Brandt, Karim Adeyemi – Serhou Guirassy At the same time, it should be noted that, especially given the few absences and the resulting wide range of options for Kovac, things could look quite different. This applies primarily to Borussia Dortmund's offense, where Carney Chukwuemaka and Maximilian Beier are also mentioned as candidates for the starting eleven. Photo: Getty Images Late winning goal by Beier in the first half of the season Köln’s coach Lukas Kwasniok recently made headlines with some controversial statements. However, tomorrow evening the main focus will be on what happens on the pitch. With currently only a two-point lead over the relegation spot, 1. FC Köln could find themselves in that position after this matchday. The following 1. FC Köln players will not be able to help prevent this scenario: Timo Hübers Denis Huseinbasic Luca Kilian Joel Schmied Sebastian Sebulonsen Jan Thielmann Therefore, the most likely starting line-up for 1. FC Köln looks like this: Marvin Schwäbe – Rav van den Berg, Jamai Simpson-Pusey, Cenk Özkacar – Alessio Castro-Montes, Eric Martel, Tom Krauß, Kristoffer Lund – Jakub Kaminski, Said El Mala – Rangar Ache Bookmakers see Borussia as a clear, but not overwhelming, favorite to win. Odds for a BVB victory range between 1.72 and 1.78. For a home win, odds are between 4.00 and 4.20. In the first half of the season, BVB won 1-0 at home against 1. FC Köln thanks to a goal by Maximilian Beier in the 96th minute. Even before that, the "Billy Goats" had not managed to get anything from BVB for quite some time. BVB won the last four encounters with a goal difference of 12:1. However, in October 2022, FC did win 3-2 at home against Borussia Dortmund. Many more facts and figures about the match 1. FC Köln – Borussia Dortmund can be found at this link.