- 1 Hamburg SV vs Koln: 270 minutes of Bundesliga football without a single Hamburg goal
- 2 Hamburg SV: a return to the top flight that has gone badly wrong
- 3 Koln: four points, seven goals conceded and El Mala back
- 4 Bundesliga prediction Hamburg SV vs Cologne
- 5 First, a word on our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information that moves
- 8 Your role
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the images…
Hamburg SV vs Koln: 270 minutes of Bundesliga football without a single Hamburg goal 
Hamburg SV have failed to score in any of their first three Bundesliga games. Twelve goals shipped over the same spell leave them bottom of the table, behind Borussia Monchengladbach on goal difference.
The promoted side could become the first team in the division to go through a full month of the season without scoring once. That stat says more than any drawn-out tactical lecture ever could.
The club earned its way back up this summer, eight years after the 2018 relegation. What should have been a long-awaited return to the top flight has turned into a mess in the space of three weekends.
Koln arrive with four points on the board and a steadier line of form. Hamburg, by contrast, have one win, one defeat and a draw since the restart.
Forgive, but forget fast: that is the message for Hamburg SV after the bruising 5-0 defeat at RB Leipzig. On Saturday 19 September at 15:30, HSV return to the Volksparkstadion and its 57,000 supporters for the visit of 1. FC Cologne in this fourth round of Bundesliga action.
It is HSV’s first home game since the hammering against Mainz in matchday two. Merlin Polzin needs the crowd to drag a flat, lifeless side back into the fight.
The head-to-head is tight, with nine Hamburg wins and eight for Koln across 22 recorded meetings. There is nothing in that history to point strongly one way or the other.
Koln, for their part, have already beaten Hoffenheim and held Werder Bremen at home. The Rhineland club sit outside the drop zone, though nobody is exactly raving about them.
So the whole game boils down to one immediate battle: a defence conceding four goals a match against an attack getting its best man back.
Hamburg SV: a return to the top flight that has gone badly wrong 
HSV started the season with a 2-0 defeat at Dortmund in front of 81,365 fans. That was the biggest crowd in the league so far this season, and the result was at least understandable given the opponent.
The 5-0 home loss to Mainz the following week was not. That was the moment the season lurched into a different kind of trouble.
Polzin had demanded a response before the trip to Leipzig. His side went out and conceded five again, with Tidiam Gomis (17th minute), Antonio Nusa (28th) and Castello Lukeba (48th) all on the scoresheet.
Hamburg’s only contribution was Nicolas Capaldo’s own goal after six minutes. That one incident sums up 270 minutes of league football perfectly.
The problem goes beyond the quality of the opposition: the defensive block has been ripped open time and again through the middle, which explains the string of heavy defeats. Sebastiaan Bornauw, carrying a muscle issue, misses a second straight match.
Miro Muheim (groin) and Alexander Rossing (ankle) are also out, with the latter not expected back until the end of September. Jordan Torunarigha remains a doubt after taking a knock to the thigh at Leipzig, with a late fitness test planned before kick-off.
Warmed Omari, who has been struggling with a painful shoulder, has been declared fit by his coach and should line up in the back three. Mario Vuskovic returned to full training on Tuesday after serving his doping ban and gives Hamburg an immediate back-up option.
Kofi Amoako also rejoined the squad that day after illness, which adds a little more depth in attack. Otto Stange, who took a knock to the ribs in the 78th minute at Leipzig, is back in normal training and should be fine for this one.
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Koln: four points, seven goals conceded and El Mala back 
Cologne began with a 3-2 win over Hoffenheim at the RheinEnergieStadion. Said El Mala opened the scoring before Thijs Dallinga, off the bench, hit a debut double in Bundesliga football.
The trip to Stuttgart came without either man, both sidelined, and ended in a 4-1 defeat. Losing both of their first-game scorers mattered. A lot.
The reply came in matchday three, with a hard-earned 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen. Linton Maina equalised after Niclas Fullkrug had opened the scoring.
René Wagner himself played down the result, saying his side had lost a bit of nerve in the second half. Seven goals conceded in three matches make it clear that solidity is still a relative term.
The coach replaced Lukas Kwasniok in March 2026, returning for a second spell at the club after working as Steffen Baumgart’s assistant between 2021 and 2023. He helped steer Cologne away from relegation then, and his pragmatic structure has given the team a base they badly lacked under his predecessor.
El Mala is Cologne’s main selling point. At 20, he has become the fourth teenager in club history to reach 10 Bundesliga goals, after Lukas Podolski, Pierre Littbarski and Dieter Muller. Back from a bout of flu, he has completed the full week of training.
The attack is still without Dallinga, out since matchday one, and Timo Hubers, who had a second knee operation in mid-August and is expected back in early 2027. Ragnar Ache should lead the line, with Ellyes Skhiri and Tom Krauss tasked with running the midfield.
Gian-Luca Waldschmidt was back from a thigh issue against Bremen, while Sebastian Sebulonsen has recovered from a muscle problem. Wagner therefore has more options on the bench than he did in the previous two rounds.
Expected Hamburg SV line-up: Fernandes ; Omari, Torunarigha, Capaldo ; El Ouahdi, Lokonga, Remberg, Moller Wolfe ; Gronbaek, Vieira ; Moffi
Expected Koln line-up: Schwabe ; Castro-Montes, Simpson-Pusey, Lochoshvili, Mensah ; Skhiri, Krauss ; Maina, El Mala, Moore ; Ache
Bundesliga prediction Hamburg SV vs Cologne
Our prediction: Cologne to win in Hamburg
Hamburg are shipping four goals a game since the restart and have not found the net in 270 minutes of league football. No other side in the German top flight carries both flaws at once.
Koln get El Mala back in full shape and keep a midfield built around Skhiri and Krauss, two players well suited to exploiting the central channel where Hamburg keep cracking. The uncertainty over Torunarigha only makes a shaky back line, already missing Bornauw, look worse.
The two heavy defeats Hamburg have taken came against Mainz and Leipzig, sides that attack through the inside lanes. Wagner has exactly the tools to copy that blueprint.
Koln leave the Volksparkstadion with all three points.
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