Preview: Under the lights in Cologne | OneFootball

Eintracht head to the banks of the Rhine to face 1. FC Köln – another club steeped in tradition. The Eagles tend to enjoy playing the Billy Goats, who haven’t always fared that well on Saturday evenings.

Backdrop

Eintracht will hope to pick up where they left off in the 1-0 home win over 1. FSV Mainz 05 when they travel to 1. FC Köln on Matchday 11. Kick-off at the RheinEnergieSTADION on Saturday 22 November is 18:30 CET. The Eagles head to Cologne in seventh place with 17 points from their 10 games so far. Dino Toppmöller’s side have won one and lost one of their two Saturday evening kick-offs so far in 2025/26, winning a thriller at Borussia Mönchengladbach in September before losing at home to FC Bayern Munich the following weekend. Promoted Köln, who are three points worse off than the Eagles in ninth spot, have featured in the Saturday primetime slot three times so far this season but have lost on each occasion. Indeed, the Billy Goats have won only one of their last 10 Saturday evening matches, drawing two and losing seven. Their only triumph in that time, incidentally, was a 2-0 home victory over Eintracht on 3 February 2024. 

Looking back

That was the most recent meeting between Frankfurt and Köln, who ended up being relegated at the end of the 2023/24 campaign but secured promotion back to the Bundesliga after only one season in the second tier. This is a fixture steeped in tradition, with the two sides having faced each other 114 times in all competitions – including 96 encounters in the Bundesliga. Eintracht have won 38 of those, drawing 33 and losing 43.

Fine record against promoted teams

The Eagles are hoping to claim their sixth league win of the season in Cologne. Their last defeat against a newly promoted side came over four years ago, in October 2021, when they were beaten 2-0 at VfL Bochum. Since then, Eintracht have won 11 and drawn four of their 15 meetings with promoted clubs, equalling the club record they set between 2008 and 2012.

Toppmöller’s charges have also kept three clean sheets in their past five matches in the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League and DFB Cup. Nobody of an Eintracht persuasion will object to another shut-out this weekend, when the Eagles will be going all out for another three points.