Borussia Dortmund vs. Werder Bremen preview: Can BVB remain unbeaten?
Borussia Dortmund will attempt to maintain their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season when they face Werder Bremen on Friday.
| Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0 |
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund experienced an underwhelming start to the season after dropping points in two of their opening three games. An unconvincing win against FC Köln in their league opener was followed by disappointing draws against Bochum and Heidenheim.
However, die Schwarzgelben have started to move through the gears in recent games. They claimed four consecutive league victories over Freiburg, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim and Union Berlin. Those results have taken Dortmund’s tally to 17 points, leaving them in fourth position and two points adrift of current league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
While Edin Terzic may have one eye on Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Newcastle United, he will be determined to avoid any slip-ups against Bremen. Dortmund are looking to extend their 15-game unbeaten league run, which stretches back to April. As a result of their undefeated streak, the hosts are one of three teams yet to lose in the Bundesliga game this season.
Team News
Dortmund are expected to be without the services of Thomas Meunier, Mateu Morey, Julien Duranville and Youssoufa Moukoko.
Niclas Füllkrug ended his four-year association with Bremen in the summer, and he is expected to start against his former side on Friday.
Werder Bremen
Bremen have experienced a rather underwhelming start to the campaign, having won two and lost five of their seven league matches. After beginning the season with consecutive defeats, Ole Werner’s side managed to pick up home wins against Mainz and Köln either side of an away defeat to Heidenheim.
While those two victories suggested Bremen had turned a corner, they went into the international break off the back of two straight losses. A 4-2 defeat to Darmstadt was followed by a disappointing result in their home meeting with Hoffenheim. They looked set to salvage a point against die Kraichgauer after Jen Stage equalised in stoppage time, but Marius Bülter quickly restored Hoffenheim's advantage to condemn Bremen to a narrow 3-2 defeat.
With just two points separating them from the bottom three, Bremen will be looking to climb up the table with a positive result on Friday. They will have fond memories of their last trip to Signal Iduna Park in August 2022 when they produced a stunning comeback to claim three points. The visitors trailed by two goals heading into the closing stages, but they found the net in the 89th minute, before going on to score two stoppage-time goals to clinch a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Team News
Jiri Pavlenka, Niklas Stark, Amos Pieper and Naby Keita are all set to miss out through injury.