SV Werder Bremen will have a full house for the first home game of 2023 at the wohninvest WESERSTADION. 1. FC Union Berlin are the visitors on Wednesday night (25/1, 20:30 CET). “We can end the first half of the season with 24 points if we win – that should be enough motivation for us all,” said head coach Ole Werner at the pre-match press conference.
Squad news: Ole Werner will only be missing Felix Agu (patellar tendon) and Romano Schmid (partial MCL tear) for the final game of the first half of the season. Meanwhile, Union lost right-back Julian Ryerson to Borussia Dortmund last week. He was replaced by Josip Juranovic from Celtic, who featured for Croatia at the recent World Cup.
The opponents: 1. FC Union Berlin have enjoyed a brilliant season so far and are sat in third place. Urs Fischer’s team are extremely disciplined and compact in defence. Their key players at the back are Robin Knoche and defensive midfielder Rani Khedira, while the speedy Sheraldo Becker is the main outlet up front. The side from Köpenick have plenty of depth in their squad, something which has been needed as they are competing in three competitions (Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and the Europa League) this season. Ole Werner commented: “They are a physical side and tough to play against. They deserve to be where they are in the table.”
Previous meetings: The two sides only faced off for the first time in 2009, when Werder won 5-0 in the DFB-Pokal in the capital. Since then, SVW and Union have met four times in the Bundesliga, but Bremen only won the first clash. That means that Werder are still waiting for their first home win against the Berliners.
Strong in the air: Five of Union’s last eight Bundesliga goals have been headers, and 10 of their 27 overall goals have been in this manner. Werder have also showed they can score with their head: Niclas Füllkrug has scored a league-high four headed goals this term.
