The international break is over and SV Werder are hunting for their first win of the season. Borussia Mönchengladbach are the visitors at the Weserstadion on Sunday (KO 18:00 CEST). A team filled with quality. “Gladbach are a really dangerous side with lots of individual quality. We have to be prepared for anything they can throw at us. But I’m convinced that we are well prepared for the task on Sunday,” Zlatko Junuzovic said ahead of the match against the Fohlenelf.
The head to head record favours Werder: Out of 95 clashes between the two traditional clubs, the Green-Whites have won 37 of them, whilst Gladbach have won 36. There have been 22 draws and plenty of goals. In games between the two sides, there are, on average, 3.4 goals scored. Needless to say, on Matchday 8, Delaney and co. will want to extend Werder’s slim advantage.
The two sides’ last encounter: Werder fans won’t look back on games against Gladbach from last season with many fond memories. After a 4-1 loss on Matchday 3 away from home, the Green-Whites were also defeated by the Fohlenelf at the Weserstadion after a 12th minute goal from Thorgan Hazard. The boys will be looking to avoid a repeat of that on Sunday.
The pre-match quotes: “We want to be attacking, create chances and be more consistent in our finishing. We will need a top performance against an organised opponent, who play at a high tempo and switch from defence to attack very quickly. We are prepared for it. If we take our chances, we will be hard to beat,” head coach Alexander Nouri said in the pre-match press conference.
Question marks surrounding the captain: Will he or won’t he start? After Zlatko Junuzovic made his comeback two weeks ago against Hamburg, Werder’s captain could make his first starting appearance of the season on Sunday against Gladbach. Juno thinks he’s ready to start. “I am confident about being able to start in the game on Sunday. But we’ll have to see how the game goes and what the boss wants to do,” Junuzovic said in an interview with WERDER.DE.
Werder’s backbone: Jiri Pavlenka has become increasingly important for Werder between the sticks. The new signing from Czech Republic is statistically one of the strongest goalkeepers in the league. Pavlenka has saved 81% of shots, the fourth-best record in the Bundesliga. In terms of pure numbers, there is just one ‘keeper – Alexander Schwolow of SC Freiburg – who is numerically superior. Whilst Pavlenka has saved 36 shots in seven games, Schwolow has made 42 saves.
The referee: Markus Schmidt will referee the match on Sunday. The last Werder game that he oversaw was the Green-Whites’ 4-2 victory against FC Ingolstadt in April. He will be assisted by Thorben Siewer and Christof Günsch. The fourth official is Christian Fischer and the video assistant is Dr. Robert Kampka.
