SV Werder face 1. FC Köln in their final home match of the season on Saturday (15th May, 15:30 CEST). Whilst the guests have already confirmed their place in the Bundesliga next season, SVW want to make sure of their top-flight status with a win at the wohninvest WESERSTADION. “We’ve been focusing on a win and assuring survival this week,” said head coach Ole Werner at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Squad news: Niclas Füllkrug will return to the squad for the Köln fixture, but Dikeni Salifou, Amos Pieper and Felix Agu remain out for the Green-Whites. “There are fewer issues in terms of the squad as there have been in recent weeks,” summarised head coach Ole Werner.
Head coach Ole Werner on the opposition: “Köln have a tendency to play on the counter and try and get plenty of crosses in the box, so we’ll need to be alert to defend those. Their fast-paced playing style was more than clear when we faced them earlier on this season, there was a lot of back and forth. We’ve managed to get several great results this season and we want to try and do that again against Köln this weekend.”
Previous meetings: Saturday afternoon’s match will be the 97th time SVW and Effzeh have met in the Bundesliga, and their record up to this point has been fairly even. Werder have won 35 of these matches, 26 have ended in a draw, and Köln have won on 36 occasions. Köln took the narrow lead in the overall record with a 7-1 win against the Green-Whites on matchday 16 earlier this season.
Strong home record: SVW have lost just one of their 16 home matches against Köln since the 1996/97 season (W11, D4). Their one victory, a 1-0 victory back in October 2014, was also the only time in this period that Werder failed to score against Köln at the wohninvest WESERSTADION.
Permutations: The relegation battle can often lead to some exhausting calculations for several teams and their fans. Who needs to defeat whom to ensure their team’s own points tally will suffice? For SVW, the calculations are a little more straightforward: a win against Köln will make them mathematically safe from relegation.
