Battle of opposites: Hannover 96 come into the game with just one game in ten whereas Werder have won four of their last five. Hannover have lost each of their last five matches, their worst record for two years. The last time they had such a record was during the 2015/16 season when they were relegated. Werder however are flying. Kohfeldt and his side are having the best second half of the season Werder have had for 13 years. 21 points from eleven games is a tally only matched by the league winning season of 2004/05, when they picked up 22 points.
Florian Kohfeldt on the little Nordderby: All form will go out the window however when the two teams walk out under the floodlights on Friday night. Head coach Kohfeldt also seemed to play down the impact of form coming into the game, “They [Hannover] have had a lot of bad luck in recent weeks and have been up against tough opponents. You’ve got to remember that they always find a way to climb up the table and remain a solid Bundesliga side.” Werder will therefore be expecting anything but an easy task in Hannover. “They are a very flexible side that iis strong on the counter-attack. We will by no means underestimate them,” emphasised Florian Kohfeldt in the pre-match press conference.” The Green-Whites will be wary of Salif Sané and the quality he possesses in front of goal; “He is one that definitely requires special attention. He has been picking up goals with ease recently and is a very good player, both going forward and defensively. We need to prepare for him specially,” explained Kohfeldt. Werder therefore head to the northern companions with an appropriate amount of respect for the side that currently sit one place below Werder in 13th. However this respect also goes hand in hand with optimism, “Of course we want to win but to do that we need every player to be focussed to the max,” said Kohfeldt. 5,500 Werder fans will be helping the players do that as they travel down to Hannover to support their team. “It is no normal Bundesliga game. Hannover is another team from the north of Germany and so it is like a little Nordderby,” said Kohfeldt looking forward to the encounter.
The quality of players: SV Werder Bremen will be forced to make changes at the back to face Hannover. Niklas Moisander will be unavable for the match due to suspension as he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt. Furthermore Ludwig Augustinsson will be missing due to injury. The Sweden international player suffered a thigh injury in the game against Frankfurt being forced to leave the field. However his injury is no major cause for concern, as Kohfeldt has already explained that Werder’s squad is well equipped to deal with the missing personnel. “There are several options. Marco Friedl is a good alternative on the left-hand side and he has already shown he can do a job when he played against both Frankfurt and Gladbach,” praised Kohfeldt. The centre-back hole that needs to be filled is also well covered for as two players will be battling it out for a spot in the XI, “In the centre we have Sebastian Langkamp and Luca Caldirola; two very good centre backs,” explained Kohfeldt without giving anything more away, “We will decide on Friday morning who plays.”
