Koln hosts Hertha BSC at the RheinEnergieStadion in a fixture from the first round of the Bundesliga. The Billy Goats return to the elite division, but with one main goal in mind – to remain here and avoid another relegation. Let’s discuss this game with you in these free online soccer betting tips.

Koln reacted well enough to their latest relegation and did well enough to return to the Bundesliga again. They are going to start the season with a new head coach as well. This is the 49-years old German tactician Steffen Baumgart who arrives at the RheinEnergieStadion from Paderborn. Koln won the promotion under the management of Friedhelm Funkel, but he stepped down soon after this.

On the summer transfer market Koln signed only free agents so far. The club brought in the striker Mark Uth from Schalke 04 and the goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe from Brondby. Rapid Wien’s Dejan Ljubicic and Hannover 96’s Timo Hubers also signed contracts with the former champions. These four players should help Koln avoid another relegation in the 2. Bundesliga. It’s going to be as tough as always, but it is what it is – the competition is incredible among the best teams in the country.

Koln’s fans are not happy because the club sold some important players just after winning the Bundesliga promotion. The talented centre-back Sebastiaan Bornauw moved to Wolfsburg while the midfielder Ismail Jakobs moved to Monaco. At the same time the defensive midfielder Birger Verstraete returned to Belgium and he will play for Royal Antwerp next season. At the same time players like Julian Krahl, Lasse Sobiech, Dominick Drexler and Marco Hoger left the club as free agents.

The Slovakian international Ondrej Duda remains one of the most important figures in Koln’s first team. Last year he arrived at the club from Hertha BSC and scored 7 goals in the 2. Bundesliga despite being a midfielder. Just after few days Duda will have the chance to face his former club Hertha.

The French striker Anthony Modeste is another player Koln will rely on in the Bundesliga. He spent the last season at Saint-Etienne in the Ligue 1, but now he’s back to Germany and ready to show his attacking talents. He’s a player with tons of experience who could be really important for the Billy Goats if he remain healthy.

Koln already played their first official game for the season and managed to progress in the DFB Pokal. Steffen Baumgart’s team eliminated Carl Zeiss Jena from the first round of the competition although they needed penalties after a 1-1 draw. The Tunisian international Ellyes Skhiri scored Koln’s only goal in the game after coming on the pitch as a substitute. Marc Uth was the player who provided the assist for Skhiri. Meanwhile the goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe became the hero during the penalties saving two of Carl Zeiss Jena’s. He’s one of Koln’s new signings and he already made some solid impression to the fans.

Last season Hertha BSC finished 14th in the Bundesliga standings which was a bit disappointing for the club and the fans. Despite the poor performance the club’s board decided to continue with the Hungarian manager Pal Dardai. A former player of the Old Lady, Dardai will have another chance to show his qualities as a coach and eventually improve Hertha’s performance.

In order to improve the quality of the team Hertha invested money in two new signings on the transfer market. The Berliners signed Schalke 04’s midfielder Suat Serdar who’s a proven player in the Bundesliga. The Old Lady also signed Augsburg’s winger Marco Richter who should bring some pace to Hertha’s attacking line. The club also brought in two well-known veterans in European football – Kevin-Prince Boateng and Stevan Jovetic. For Boateng this is actually a homecoming because Hertha is his first club. He spent many years in Berlin before moving to England to play for Tottenham Hotspur.

Stevan Jovetic is a proven quality in football as well. When he’s injury-free, Jovetic is a very capable striker who can score easily. He spent the last four years in France with Monaco, but now he will play for a first time in the Bundesliga. In the past he played for big clubs such as Fiorentina, Manchester City, Inter Milan and Sevilla. Hertha’s fans have many reasons to feel excited because of Stevan Jovetic’ arrival in the German capital. The most important thing for him is to remain healthy and fit to play.

Kevin-Prince Boateng and Stevan Jovetic will have the task to replace the Colombian striker Jhon Cordoba who left the capital this summer. The South American striker moved to Russia where he joined Krasnodar. The left-back Luca Netz also left Hertha and he will continue his career in Borussia M’gladbach. Meanwhile Omar Aldarete, Arne Maier, Mathew Leckie and Eduard Lowen all got loaned to other clubs during the pre-season.

In their first official game for the season Hertha BSC successfully progressed in the DFB Pokal. The Old Lady faced Meppen in the first round and needed a goal in the 91th minute to reach the second round. The hero of the game was Davie Selke who put the ball in the net after an assist from Marvin Plattenhardt. The head coach Pal Dardai took an interesting tactical decision in this game as he used the new signing Kevin-Prince Boateng in central midfield. Stevan Jovetic also started the game and got replaced 10 minutes before the end.

That’s the free online soccer betting tips for the Bundesliga game between Koln and Hertha BSC from the first round of the league. The Billy Goats return to the elite division and they have the luck to play at home in their first game. At the same time Hertha will try to do better than last season and they made some solid business on the transfer market. The Old Lady looks ready for the new campaign, but let’s see what they will do in their first Bundesliga test for the 2021/22 season.