Bayern Munich vs. Werder Bremen preview: Hosts looking to keep pace with Leverkusen
Bayern Munich will look to move back to within four points of leaders Bayer Leverkusen when they face Werder Bremen on Sunday.
| Photo: Bayern München/OneFootball |
Bayern Munich
After rounding off 2023 with consecutive league victories, Bayern began the new year with another successful outing in their home meeting with Hoffenheim. Jamal Musiala netted a brace to put Bayern in control, before Harry Kane scored his 22nd league goal of the season to wrap up a commanding 3-0 victory.
Despite winning nine of their last 10 top-flight matches, Bayern head into Sunday's contest in second place and seven points adrift of Leverkusen, who fought back to beat RB Leipzig on Saturday. However, Thomas Tuchel’s side can close that gap to one point if they beat Bremen and Union Berlin in their next two matches.
Impressively, Bayern have won their last six Bundesliga home games, scoring at least three goals in each of those matches while also keeping five clean sheets in that period. They will be confident about their chances of continuing their fine form at the Allianz Arena, having won 12 of their last 13 competitive home matches against Bremen.
Team News
Tuchel has confirmed that Matthijs de Ligt will start Sunday’s contest despite picking up a knee issue during the week. However, the Bayern boss is unable to call upon Daniel Peretz, Bouna Sarr, Tarek Buchmann and Serge Gnabry due to injury. Meanwhile, Kim Min-jae and Noussair Mazraoui are currently on international duty.
Werder Bremen
Bremen may be unbeaten in four league matches, but they have seen each of their last three games finish all square. While wins have proven hard to come by, their recent away draw with Bochum may have felt like a victory. They seemed to be heading towards a narrow defeat when Patrick Osterhage opened the scoring in the 64th minute. However, Niklas Stark proved to be Bremen’s hero, netting a stoppage-time equaliser to rescue a valuable point.
Having won four, drawn five and lost eight of their 17 league matches, Ole Werner's side find themselves in 14th position and six points clear of the drop zone. If Bremen have any aspirations of climbing up the table, they will have to start performing on the road. They are the only team yet to win a Bundesliga away game this season, while three points from eight matches leaves them with the worst away record in the division.
If they are to end that poor run of form, the visitors will need to beat Bayern for the first time since running out 5-2 winners in September 2008.
Team News
The visitors are without the injured trio of Amos Pieper, Leon Opitz and Milos Veljkovic. Leonardo Bittencourt and Marvin Ducksch are suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards, while Naby Keita is on international duty.