“We really want to pick up points again after a phase during which we weren’t great,” says Florian Kohfeldt. The international break is over and Werder want a win after three Bundesliga losses in a row. The Green-Whites travel to Freiburg on Sunday for “a massively important game to stay high up in the table,” according to Kohfeldt.
Previous meetings: Freiburg travelled to the Weserstadion for the sixth matchday of last season. Both teams had chances in a tight first half, and, despite Werder taking charge of things in the second half, the game ended goalless. It was a similar story in the return fixture, but this time the game was decided by a Nils Petersen penalty and Werder lost 1-0.
Florian Kohfeldt on the game: “It’s always special to play in Freiburg because of where it is, the smaller pitch and knowing how they play. Freiburg have more individual quality than last year, and they’re running an incredible amount. The strikers like to break up the opponents’ play early and they’re very dangerous on the counter. We want to win and we’ve discussed how to achieve this.”
Squad news: Philipp Bargfrede’s injury means he’ll be out until next year, but there’s also some good news. Claudio Pizarro took part in team training again on Friday and will travel to Freiburg. Yuya Osako only got back from Japan on Thursday, but he’ll also be in the squad. However, whether he starts or not “will depend on how fresh he is,” according to Kohfeldt.
The stats: Werder and Freiburg have met 36 times in the Bundesliga, with the Green-Whites winning 21 of those games (58%) – their best record against any Bundesliga side. Martin Harnik also has fond memories of playing against Sunday’s opponents. So far, he’s scored nine Bundesliga goals against Freiburg.
The opponents: Freiburg currently sit in 11th place in the table with 13 points. Their standout result of the season is probably the 1-1 draw against record champions Bayern Munich. Christian Streich has a team that has a resilient defence and is dangerous on the counter. At home this season, Freiburg have two wins, two draws and two losses. Striker Nils Petersen needs one more goal to equal Papiss Demba Cisse’s record as Freiburg’s top goalscorer in the Bundesliga.
The officials: Bastian Dankert will take charge of things in the Schwarzwald-Stadion. René Rohde and Markus Häcker will run the lines, with Markus Sinn the fourth official. The video assistants are Benjamin Cortus and Christian Dietz.
