Stuttgart 11/10 to beat Koln in Friday’s Bundesliga battle

Competition: Bundesliga

Market: Stuttgart win

Odds: 11/10 @ 888sport

With a real chance to keep up on their early-season purple patch on Friday night, Stuttgart will welcome Koln to the Mercedes-Benz-Arena.

Starting with the hosts, while Stuttgart might have marked their Bundesliga return with a dramatic 3-2 defeat against Freiburg last month, Die Schwaben have bounced back in some style. Making their return from the international break and putting in what some around the Mercedes-Benz-Arena are billing as a season-best display, Thomas Hitzlsperger’s men landed a deserved 2-0 win against Hertha Berlin and the mood in their camp should be at a red-hot high. Along with gaining some level of revenge over Freiburg after landing a 3-0 romp against them in a friendly showdown over the October break, Stuttgart have now collected seven points over their last three Bundesliga appearances. With their recent purple patch also highlighted by a thumping 4-1 romp away at Mainz last month, they will be confident of laying down another marker on Friday night.

As for the visitors, while the mood in Stuttgart’s camp will be at a red-hot high, Koln have only continued to show the same issues that haunted them after returning from football’s enforced break over the summer. Remarkably failing to win any of their final 10 top-flight contests over last year’s interrupted campaign, the Billy Goats do look like they could be destined for a real relegation scrap this time around. While Markus Gisdol’s men might have managed to get their first point on the board thanks to a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend, it doesn’t cover what has been a torrid run for Friday’s guests. With their stalemate last time out their only point from their opening four Bundesliga contests, Koln have now failed to win any of their last 14 top-flight appearances continuing on from last season.

Bet: Stuttgart 11/10 to beat Koln in Friday’s Bundesliga battle @ 888sport