Freiburg vs. Werder Bremen preview: Can Bremen get on the board?
After losing 4-0 to Bayern Munich in their league opener, Werder Bremen will be looking to claim their first points of the season when they face Freiburg on Saturday.
Freiburg
Freiburg have made an encouraging start to the new season, beating Oberachern in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, before claiming maximum points against Hoffenheim last weekend. An own goal from Attila Szalai opened the scoring, before Roland Sallai found the net in first-half stoppage time to double Freiburg’s advantage in their league opener. Although Ozan Kabak pulled a goal back in the 50th minute, Freiburg showcased their defensive attributes to hold firm and secure all three points.
Christian Streich’s side will now return home to the Europa-Park Stadion, where they proved to be a tough team to beat last season, losing just three of their 17 home league games. Saturday’s hosts will be hoping for a repeat of their most recent home meeting with Bremen in October when they emerged 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Lukas Kubler and Vincenzo Grifo. After going on to win the reverse fixture, they will be looking to claim a third consecutive victory over Bremen on Saturday.
Team News
Freiburg are unable to call upon the injured trio of Christian Günter, Junior Adamu and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh.
Werder Bremen
After suffering a surprise cup exit at the hands of Viktoria Köln, Bremen were presented with a tough test for their Bundesliga curtain-raiser. Champions Bayern Munich came to town, and left with all three points as Thomas Tuchel's side cruised to a 4-0 victory. The result extends Bremen's winless league run to six matches, while they have now won just one of their previous 13 Bundesliga games.
Bremen will have to pick themselves from their opening-day defeat, as they turn their attention to Saturday's meeting with Freiburg. Having failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 13 top-flight matches, Bremen will be hoping to produce a solid defensive display this weekend.
The visitors will be looking to record their first victory over Freiburg since claiming a 1-0 away win in May 2020.
Team News
Felix Agu and Naby Keita are ruled out with knee and groin injuries respectively, while Milos Veljkovic is a doubt due to illness.