SV Werder Bremen proved earlier this season that they have what it takes to pose a challenges for defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Ahead of their trip to Leverkusen on Saturday (15:30 CET), the Green-Whites will need to zero in on their own strengths. The team are hoping to rebuild their self-confidence with a positive result this weekend.
Team news: Marvin Ducksch (thigh muscle problems), Niklas Stark (knee problems) and captain Marco Friedl (knee ligament injury) will all be unavailable against Leverkusen. The trio are also all doubts for the following weekend’s match against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Ole Werner on the opponent: “The key thing will be for us to defend well. When we win possession, we have to make the most of it. Leverkusen have a strong press and we will need to make good runs up the pitch. Two more key factors will be making the decision on when to counter versus when to remain in possession. If we need anything to give us confidence, then we can use the fixture from earlier this season. Of course we also watched their Champions League match, but it's a different scenario to the weekly routine in the Bundesliga, which is what we're focused on.”
Previous meetings: The last time these two sides met at the BayArena, Leverkusen were crowned Bundesliga champions for the first time in their history. Werder have managed to take points from seven of their last nine clashes with the Werkself (W2, D5, L2). Should the match end in a draw, as was the case earlier this season (2-2), then it would mark a new Bundesliga record: never before in league history has a fixture seen two teams share the points on 36 occasions.
Strike force: Head coach Xabi Alonso chose not to play with a designated striker in their 3-0 defeat at FC Bayern München in the Champions League. Victor Boniface did not feature at all, while Patrik Schick only came off the bench for a few minutes. The Czech striker has scored a league-high 16 goals between Bundesliga matchdays 10 to 24. It’s more than likely that the two strikers will return this weekend.
