Rhine derby: Blessin debut for Gladbach as Köln lose two strikers

📰 Köln and Gladbach resume their Bundesliga seasons straight after the international break with a Rhine derby. 📌 Key points 📅 Kick-off is 3.30pm local time on 11 October in Cologne. 🆕 Bottom side Gladbach will have Alexander Blessin in charge for his first league game. 🚑 Köln are without strikers Thijs Dallinga and Ragnar Ache. 📉 Gladbach have lost all four games and conceded 16 goals. 🛡️ Yet Gladbach are unbeaten in their last three Rhine derbies. 📝 What happened 🆕 Gladbach parted ways with Eugen Polanski after four straight defeats and appointed Alexander Blessin. His first Bundesliga game in charge is away at their fiercest rivals. Captain Tim Kleindienst is available again after suspension. 🚑 Köln lost two strikers in a friendly against third-tier Viktoria Köln on 3 October. Thijs Dallinga, on loan from Bologna, suffered a cruciate ligament injury and faces a long lay-off, while substitute Ragnar Ache picked up a hamstring injury. 🩹 Gladbach have problems too. Franck Honorat is a doubt with a muscle tear, and Nicolas Kühn, Jens Castrop and Enzo Leopold (cruciate ligament) are out. 🗣️ Köln's 19-year-old Tottenham loanee Mikey Moore is ready for his first derby: "When I first joined, everyone said this is the big one." 📊 By the numbers • Köln: four points from four games, 13th • Gladbach: zero points from four games, bottom • Gladbach have conceded 16 goals in four games • Gladbach unbeaten in their last three Rhine derbies 👀 What to watch 🆕 The Blessin effect — how quickly the new coach can tighten a defence that has shipped 16 goals in four games. ⚔️ Köln's attack — without their two main strikers, Köln will lean on the finishing of Moore and Said El Mala. 🔥 Derby form — Gladbach have not lost any of the last three Rhine derbies. Can the bottom side turn their season around here? 🔭 Why it matters A Gladbach win would cut the gap to Köln to a single point, while victory for Köln would ease them away from the bottom. Kick-off is 3.30pm local time on 11 October in Cologne.