Hoffenheim vs. Werder Bremen preview: Two European hopefuls face off
Two sides sitting level on 30 points will go head-to-head when Hoffenheim welcome Werder Bremen to the PreZero Arena for Sunday’s Bundesliga contest.
Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim will be in a buoyant mood after they showed character to end their eight-game winless league run with a 3-2 away win over Borussia Dortmund last weekend. Ihlas Bebou opened the scoring inside the opening two minutes, before Donyell Malen and Nico Schlotterbeck found the net to give Dortmund a narrow half-time lead.
However, Maximilian Beier ultimately proved to be Hoffenheim’s hero, netting two goals in three minutes to clinch his team’s first victory since December. They will now turn their attention to Sunday’s encounter, where they will attempt to end a four-game winless home run. The seventh-placed side will move to within four points of the top six if they can claim maximum points.
Hoffenheim can be encouraged by their recent record against Bremen, having won five of their last seven head-to-head meetings, including a 3-2 victory in October’s reverse fixture.
Team News
The hosts are unable to call upon Kevin Akpoguma, Robert Skov, Grischa Prömel, Marco John and Mërgim Berisha. There are also doubts surrounding the availability of Tom Bischof, Bambasé Conté and Andrej Kramaric.
Werder Bremen
Bremen are also in the hunt for European football after losing just one of their last 10 league matches (W5, D4). Despite proving to be a tough team to beat, Bremen would have been disappointed to take just a solitary point from their recent home meeting with Darmstadt. Ole Werner’s side opened the scoring in the eighth minute, before Julian Justvan restored parity just after the hour mark. With neither side able to find a winner, Bremen had to settle for a share of the spoils, ensuring they have now won just one of their last four home matches.
However, Die Werderaner have enjoyed success in their recent road trips, having won each of their last three away league games by a 1-0 scoreline. With Bremen looking to record a fourth consecutive away victory, they can take confidence from the fact they claimed a 2-1 victory on their most recent trip to the PreZero Arena in October 2022.
Team News
The visitors are without Marco Friedl and Amos Pieper due to ankle problems. Their absentee list also includes Naby Keita, Niklas Stark and Isak Hansen-Aaroen. Meanwhile, there is uncertainty surrounding the availability of Justin Njinmah, Cimo Röcker and Milos Veljkovic.