Derby time has finally arrived in Cologne. On Saturday 1. FC Köln host Borussia Mönchengladbach at the RheinEnergieSTADION.

A busy week comes to an end with the biggest match of them all: the Rhine Derby. 1. FC Köln host Borussia Mönchengladbach at 15:30 on Saturday at the RheinEnergieSTADION. It will be the 103rd meeting between these two historic clubs of North Rhine-Westphalia. Preseason projections would have had Gladbach as the superior side, but a look at the current standings tells a different story: FC are fifth in the table on 40 points, while Gladbach sit in ninth place on 36 points.

Upwards trend

The season has picked up for Gladbach since the appointment of Dieter Hecking during the winter transfer window. They have steadily worked their way up the table, while also finding themselves in the semifinals of the DFB-Pokal against Eintracht Frankfurt. Prolific for Gladbach has been Captain Lars Stindl, who leads the team in both goals and assists. Meanwhile, Sport Director Max Eberl just signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2022.

FC want 2 out of 2

1. FC Köln enter the match on the back of a 1-0 home win against Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday evening. FC will look to maintain the strong run at home on Saturday and make it two out of two against Borussia Mönchengladbach this season. The match in November was decided by a 90th minute free kick by Marcel Risse that made it 2-1 for FC. The last time FC won both of its matches against Gladbach in the Bundesliga goes all the way back to the 1989/90 season.

Match Details