Facts preview: BVB's home strength meets Köln's good away record | OneFootball

The scenario: Fourth against sixth. Only two places and three points separate the two clubs. 1. FC Köln have failed to score in 21 of their 48 Bundesliga away games away to Borussia Dortmund – more often than against any other club – and have won only one of their 24 away games at BVB in the last 34 years.

Home & away: Borussia Dortmund have been unbeaten at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK since 8 March (a 2-1 loss at the hands of Augsburg). The Black & Yellows recently celebrated eight straight home wins across all competitions, with the winning streak coming to an end with a 1-1 draw with Leipzig. The club from Cologne have picked up seven of their 11 points on the road so far. Only two clubs have a better away record. Köln won in Mainz and Hoffenheim, picked up a point in Wolfsburg and have only been beaten in Leipzig (3-1) so far.

Head-to-head: After a historic home run (20 games without defeat; 16 wins, four draws), BVB suffered a 2-1 defeat to 1. FC Köln in the 2020/21 season, though the visitors have won only seven of their 48 away games at BVB (15%). BVB have won the last three encounters at home and in Müngersdorf, scoring a total of 11 goals (6-1, 1-0, 4-0). Historically, Borussia Dortmund have also kept more clean sheets against 1. FC Köln than against any other club (29).

Statistics: Borussia Dortmund have had the fewest shots on goal in the league so far (76), just under 11 per game. However, only three clubs have scored more than the 13 goals they have scored. 12 of the 13 were scored from open play – the second-best record in the league. After seven Bundesliga matchdays, 1. FC Köln are the newly-promoted team to have made the strongest start to a season since Hannover 96 in 2017/18. Their total of 11 points is already as many as they had after the entire first half of the 2023/24 season, at the end of which they suffered relegation.

The last meeting in Dortmund: On 19 August 2023, 81,365 spectators flocked to a sold-out SIGNAL IDUNA PARK to watch a match on a warm, humid summer evening in which BVB struggled to get going and Köln actually looked the more dangerous side on the rare occasions they managed to break forward. In total, the FC players covered over seven kilometres more than BVB and had several good chances to score. But in the 88th minute, Donyell Malen, who was supposed to have been substituted, scored the lucky winning goal with a spectacular shot after a corner.

The biggest home win: On 15 October 1966, there was a 6-1 win at the Rote Erde stadium thanks to goals from Lothar Emmerich (3), Reinhold Wosab (2) and Siegfried Held. The match on 18 March 2023 ended with the same result: Raphael Guerreiro, Sebastien Haller, Marco Reus and Donyell Malen scored four goals between the 15th and 36th minutes; after the break, Reus and Haller netted again to each bag a brace. Davie Selke scored the only goal for the visitors.Compiled by Boris Rupert