Heidenheim vs. Werder Bremen preview: FCH still looking for maiden league win
Bremen travel south to face Heidenheim on Sunday afternoon, as both sides look to get themselves out of the bottom half of the table.
Heidenheim
Heidenheim picked up their first point of the season against Dortmund two weeks ago and are now back home refreshed and healthy on Matchday 4. They are still looking for their first-ever Bundesliga win and need the likes of Tim Kleindienst and Jan-Niklas Beeste to start scoring up front.
Trainer Frank Schmidt will set a record this weekend and surpass former Freiburg manager Volker Finke as the longest-serving trainer of a Bundesliga club. When asked about his 16 years at the helm, Schmidt said, “The madness is simply that we took this path with FCH and now play in the Bundesliga.”
On Bremen, he added, “This is how I told the team: In the end, it is the 'Tour de Bundesliga' for us. - The Bundesliga is simply the top shelf and you just have to be careful not to give away certain phases in a game too quickly. This will be our requirement week after week until the last stage."
Team News
Elidon Qenaj is the only player not available.
Werder Bremen
Life without Niclas Füllkrug felt easy for Bremen on Matchday 3 with a 4-0 rout of Mainz. All eyes are now on Marvin Ducksch, who’s expected to play on Sunday after returning to training this week.
Bremen need to take advantage of their next four contests against Heidenheim, Köln, Darmstadt, and Hoffenheim before the schedule starts to toughen up. There’s a small chance that huge summer signing Naby Keïta will play as Ole Werner mentioned that a return will either be, “This week or next week."
Werner added, "Playing in Heidenheim is always tough. They are strong from set pieces, have a lot of power and play at a high tempo. Their defense is very disciplined. This being said, we ultimately still want to play our football."
Team News
Ducksch and Leonardo Bittencourt returned to full team training this week and are expected to be squad selections. Keïta also returned to training, but it’s unclear if he’s ready this weekend, while Felix Agu will remain unavailable.