Werder Bremen vs. Borussia Dortmund preview: BVB are itching for revenge
On Saturday afternoon, Dortmund travel to get even with a Bremen team that incredibly scored three last-minute goals to defeat the black and yellow back in August.
Werder Bremen
Werder are back up to 8th in the table with wins against Wolfsburg and Stuttgart in the last two weeks. 27 points recorded through 19 matches is quite the feat for the newly-promoted side who are just a few wins away from wrapping up a spot in the first division next season.
Niclas Füllkrug is of course the main reason for Werder's resurgence, as he and Marvin Ducksch haven’t slowed down up front. However, the defense ranks 16th in goals allowed on the season and it doesn’t help that captain Marco Friedl is suspended this weekend after picking up his 5th yellow card.
In a press conference, defender Niklas Stark stated, "Looking at the table, (BVB) are motivated to play attacking football. They will come here to take three points, and we have to give everything to prevent that, otherwise it will be difficult."
Team News
Friedl can’t play as he serves his suspension and Felix Agu is out. The good news is that Romano Schmid, Jean Manuel Mbom and Maximilian Philipp are now available.
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund defeated Bochum in a DFB-Pokal derby match midweek to continue their undefeated start to 2023. But, BVB can’t get complacent on the road if they want to continue keeping pace with Bayern Munich.
The 3rd-place side have already begun a brutal month with several games every single week, as Edin Terzic will have to start rotating his squad. Dortmund are without Karim Adeyemi this weekend, which could give way to a start for either Gio Reyna or Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
Terzic shared that, "We have strengthened the center and can adapt the game to the profiles of the players. In doing so, we are on a good path. We can draw content and confidence from this phase. However, we are still in February, not May."
Team News
Adeyemi is suspended, while Thomas Meunier and Marius Wolf are questionable. This likely means another start for Julian Ryerson. Mateu Morey is also still sidelined.