Borussia Dortmund vs Cologne prediction, odds & betting tips – 25/10/2025

Separated by just three points in the league table, Borussia Dortmund and Cologne will go head-to-head at Signal Iduna Park in round eight of the 2025-26 Bundesliga season.

Neither team managed to come away with maximum points from their most recent league outings, and a return to winning ways on domestic duty will be the objective for both sides this weekend.

Borussia Dortmund vs Cologne prediction: Hosts to narrowly edge out visitors

Key stats

• Borussia Dortmund are without a clean sheet in four matches across all competitions.
• BVB have scored the opening goal in eight of their last 10 matches.
• Like their upcoming opponents, Cologne have also developed a habit of starting games on the front foot, having broken the deadlock six times over the last eight outings.

Correct score prediction: Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Cologne

Dortmund are yet to click into full gear as an attacking force, but their tally of six league goals conceded at the other end is second only to Bundesliga leaders Bayern.

While we expect Cologne to give a good account of themselves, we can also see the home side doing enough to emerge victorious.

Pre-game odds and win probability: Dortmund well-fancied

• HOME: 4/9 (1.44) – 69.2%
• DRAW: 4/1 (5.00) – 14.3%
• AWAY: 11/2 (6.5) – 15.4%

*Odds from Ladbrokes, subject to change

Dortmund suffered their first league defeat of the campaign in Saturday's Der Klassiker against Bayern Munich, but wasted no time getting themselves back on track with a 4-2 Champions League triumph over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday.

Unbeaten in four matches on home turf this term, which has yielded three wins and a draw, Niko Kovac's men are huge favourites this weekend with a win probability of 69.2%.

Meanwhile, Cologne's 15.4% chance of winning suggests they will need to pull off a miracle to secure all three points, and a 1-1 draw against Augsburg last time out was a less-than-ideal preparation.

Lukas Kwasniok's men had Said El Mala to thank for avoiding what would have been a third defeat of the season as his strike 14 minutes from time cancelled out Fabian Rieder's 54th-minute penalty to force a share of the spoils.

For more from the upcoming matches, today’s free football betting tips look at some of the best picks.

Most recent H2Hs: Hat-trick of wins for BVB over the last two years

Claiming 4-0 and 1-0 triumphs in the 2023-24 season, Dortmund completed a first league double over Cologne in 2020 to extend their winning streak in this fixture to three matches.

Before that, they had only won one of the last five meetings between the teams.

Germany Bundesliga I 20/01/24

Cologne

0

Borussia Dortmund

4

Germany Bundesliga I 19/08/23

Borussia Dortmund

1

Cologne

0

Germany Bundesliga I 18/03/23

Borussia Dortmund

6

Cologne

1

Germany Bundesliga I 01/10/22

Cologne

3

Borussia Dortmund

2

Germany Bundesliga I 20/03/22

Cologne

1

Borussia Dortmund

1

Borussia Dortmund preview: Emre Can's wait for season debut rolls on

Having been sidelined since May with a groin issue, Emre Can has not featured for Dortmund this term, although the German is nearing a return to action.

Like Can, Julien Duranville (shoulder) remains without an appearance this season, but is drawing increasingly closer to a comeback.

Predicted lineup: Kobel(GK), Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini, Couto, Sabitzer, Bellingham, Svensson, Adeyemi, Chukwuemeka & Guirassy

Borussia Dortmund's last five matches:

• FC Copenhagen 2-4 Borussia Dortmund (Champions League)
• Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
• Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Leipzig (Bundesliga)
• Borussia Dortmund 4-1 Athletic Bilbao (Champions League)
• Mainz 0-2 Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)

Cologne preview: Jan Thielmann's injury a big blow

Only Marius Bulter (five) has been directly involved in more goals for Cologne this season than Thielmann (four), but the German is set to miss this weekend's game with a muscle problem.

Also out of contention for the away side are Luca Kilian and Rav van den Berg, who are sidelined with knee and shoulder injuries respectively.

Predicted lineup: Schwabe(GK), Heintz, Hubers, Schmied, Lund, Martel, Johannesson, Sebulonsen, Kaminski, Waldschmidt & Ache

Cologne's last five matches:

• Cologne 1-1 Augsburg (Bundesliga)
• Hoffenheim 0-1 Cologne (Bundesliga)
• Cologne 1-2 Stuttgart (Bundesliga)
• Leipzig 3-1 Cologne (Bundesliga)
• Wolfsburg 3-3 Cologne (Bundesliga

Player to watch – Said El Mala

At just 19 years of age, El Mala has established himself as a reliable option for Cologne with three goals and an assist in seven games.

He has also been promoted to the Germany Under-21s and even registered an assist during the most recent international break.

For El Mala, Saturday's clash against Dortmund could very well be the biggest of his career so far, but he has shown he is not fazed by any occasion.