Werder Bremen vs Mainz preview: A European six-pointer at the Weserstadion
Werder Bremen
The duality of man was on show during Bremen’s last contest, a thrilling 2-2 draw away to Borussia Dortmund.
Things seemingly started off well, as Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck was sent off after committing a foul as the last defender. However, despite being down a man, the hosts took the lead near the half-hour mark.
Many thought Werder would go into the break, reassess the situation, and take control of proceedings in the second half. Then Borussia scored again to double their advantage.
The Green-Whites were playing poorly, and it looked like they were dead and buried. However, substitute Leonardo Bittencourt pulled out a rabbit from his hat, scoring an absolute screamer of a volley from the edge of the penalty area.
That is finally when they took over, and Marvin Ducksch equalized shortly after. They kept pushing on in search of a winner, but despite coming incredibly close, they couldn’t get the ball over the line.
At the end of the day it was still a solid point on the road, and Bremen are still just a point behind 7th place Wolfsburg. They’ll have to start winning games soon, though, and a victory here would put them one point behind Mainz in the European fight.
Team News
Bremen have two new concerns, as Marvin Ducksch is questionable due to a back injury while top scorer Jens Stage is suspended. The rest is the same as before, with Felix Agu and Keke Topp out for a little while longer, and centerbacks Niklas Stark and Julian Malatini listed as doubts.
Mainz
Mainz, meanwhile, had one of their biggest wins of the season last weekend.
They defeated UEFA Champions League outfit Stuttgart 2-0, and they did it without leading scorer Jonathan Burkardt. It was his replacement, Nelson Weiper, who opened the scoring at the half-hour mark before Anthony Caci wrapped things up with a clinching goal late on.
It was Mainz at their best and most effective. They clearly lost the possession battle, but that didn’t matter as they stayed solid at the back and created more chances going forward. They also made the most of those opportunities, grabbing two goals from an xG of 1.11.
Die Nullfünfer jumped up to 6th place with the result, and they also narrowed the gap between themselves and the top four to just a single point. While UCL qualification is probably still a pipe dream, some sort of European football is absolutely on the cards.
Another win in Bremen would only further solidify Mainz’s place near the top of the league standings. If they play as well as they did last time, then they have a real chance of doing exactly that.
Team News
The bad news for them is that the aforementioned Burkardt is still out through injury, but the good news is he should be their only absentee.
