The Bremen head coach will also be without Clemens Fritz. The captain picked up his fifth yellow card of the season during the away win in Mainz. Therefore, Nouri will have to do without his two holding midfielders from last week. “Even without Clemens and Thomas we still have alternatives in that position,” said Nouri. “Milos can play there and Maxi Eggestein has also proven himself in that position. We have a lot of cover in that part of the field,” said the 37-year-old.
Especially as Philipp Bargfrede and Florian Grillitsch are both returning from injury and are back available. “Both of them are doing well. We’ll wait and see how they get on tomorrow and then make a sensible decision,” explained Nouri and he added, “It’s possible that Bargi could be back in the squad on Friday.” But it’s unlikely that the defensive midfielder will be included from the start.
Luca Caldirola is also in contention to make Friday‘s 18 man matchday squad. “Luca had a long term ankle injury. Last weekend he was able to complete 90 minutes for the first time. He’s now ready to return for us and could well be included in the squad on Friday,” said Nouri.