U23s looking to carry momentum into Viktoria Köln clash | OneFootball

Head-to-head record: Borussia won the reverse fixture in Cologne in mid-October by a 5-3 scoreline, with five different players scoring for the Black & Yellows: Franz Roggow, Antonio Foti, Ayman Azhil, Michael Eberwein and Babis Drakas. The Borussia Dortmund U23s have an almost even head-to-head record against Köln: BVB have won five times and Viktoria six, while there have been four draws.

News from the U23 camp: On the personnel front, coach Jan Zimmermann is not expecting any major changes compared to the game against Dresden, where he was without several players. Niklas Jessen is the only one who could realistically return. "On Wednesday, I was missing almost an entire team that could be put on the pitch elsewhere and would have the quality for the third division. But the lads handled it really well. That's the reason why I like this team so much. It's a good squad with good characters," said Zimmermann. The draw against Dresden on Wednesday was important for the relegation battle the Black & Yellow U23s find themselves in: after 28 rounds of matches, BVB are 14th in the table with a two-point cushion over 17th-placed SV Sandhausen. After the upcoming international break, there will be nine rounds of the season remaining.

Stats and facts on the opposition: Following two successive defeats, Viktoria Köln returned to winning ways by beating RW Essen 1-0 on home turf on Wednesday evening, with 1. FC Köln loan player Malek El Mala scoring the winner in the 83rd minute. That means Viktoria remain on the fringes of the promotion race: they currently have 43 points on the board and are six adrift of the promotion play-off place. Köln have scored 44 goals this season, 25 of which have come from their attacking duo of Serhat Güler and Lex Lobinger. "Köln are very versatile on the ball and play with great focus. But the result on Wednesday has given us new energy – we want to show that on the pitch in this home game," said BVB coach Jan Zimmermann.

Stadion Rote Erde will open its gates at 12.30 CET. Seated and standing tickets can be purchased via the Online Ticket Shop. MagentaSport will broadcast live.