It’s that time of year. All across the USA and the world (but mostly the USA), viewers will gather around TV sets with nachos, wings, and whatever the heck “light beer” is to watch a Justin Timberlake concert and some neat Coca-Cola commercials sandwiched in between four quarters of tackle-y nonsense colloquially known as the “super bowl”.

Meanwhile, we BVB fans know that there is one bowl game that is the true match to watch: the Stögerbowl. This year’s Stögerbowl features a mouthwatering matchup between what is unquestionably the worst club in the Bundesliga, FC Köln, and Borussia Dortmund. The last time these two sides met, Peter Stöger’s former side got thoroughly demolished 5-0... by Peter Stöger’s current squad, Borussia Dortmund.

I don’t know about you readers, but I’m super excited to watch this match, for one main reason: Bats. This should be the BVB debut of Michy Batshuayi, who, the more I learn about him, has me incredibly hyped for the rest of the season. We also could see Jaden Sancho start because of Andriy Yarmolenko’s recent injury.

As bad as FC Köln have been over the course of the season, they’ve actually had a decent run of form over the past couple weeks. They’ve beaten both Mönchengladbach and Hamburg, and drew against Augsburg. They also played well against Bayern Munich, who only managed a 1-0 win against them. Simon Terodde has three goals in his last three matches, and has a proven history of scoring in the 2. Bundesliga with Stuttgart: he could be a threat.

In all, despite their position on the table, FC Köln could pose a challenge to Dortmund, who have historically had trouble winning in Cologne. Even though Köln are without Anthony Modeste, who has haunted BVB in the past, they could still easily be a threat.

Projected Lineups

According to Sports Illustrated:

FC Köln: Horn, Sørensen, Meré, Heintz, Hector, Koziello, Özcan, Clemens, Joijic, Osako, Terodde.

Borussia Dortmund: Bürki, Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak, Toljan, Weigl, Pulisic, Kagawa, Götze, Sancho, Batshuayi.

Prediction

BVB 3:1 FC Köln

Batshuayi scores a brace, Sancho makes a brilliant assist to set up Christian Pulisic, and the Eagles win Patriots lose 28-24.