Werder want what Leverkusen need

Bayer Leverkusen match preview

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Ludwig Augustinsson and Co. want to extend the unbeaten run at home (nordphoto).
preliminary report
Friday, 26.10.2018 / 16:46

Zusammengestellt von WERDER.DE und Opta

By Sunday evening, the table is likely to have changed, but as things stand, third-place Werder Bremen welcome thirteenth-place Bayer Leverkusen to the Weser-Stadion. The visitors currently find themselves in a difficult situation, while Werder’s most recent victory away to Schalke means the club is enjoying its best start to a Bundesliga season in 13 years. Furthermore, Florian Kohfeldt and his players are desperate to continue the unbeaten home run of 17 games. As usual, we’ve collated all the relevant facts and figures ahead of Sunday’s clash against the ‘Werkself’. 

Previous encounters: Last season, Werder were unable to beat Bayer Leverkusen in either game. Towards the end of the Hinrunde, the Green-Whites were beaten 1-0 in Leverkusen through an early goal from Lucas Alario. Despite the team’s tireless efforts over the next 80 minutes, they left empty-handed. In the last home game of the season, the two sides shared the spoils in a goalless draw with a lack of chances at either end. The uneventful 2017/18 home finale will however be remembered for one curious moment late in the game, when referee Robert Hartman blew for a Kevin Volland foul on Jiri Pavlenka and proceeded to show a yellow card. However, the card was wrongly shown to Lucas Alario, which meant the already booked Kevin Volland was spared a sending off. Werder also met Leverkusen in the DFB Pokal last season, where a frustrating 4-2 defeat in extra time ended the Green-White road to Berlin.     

Max Kruse leads the way (nordphoto).

Our head coach on the game: Despite Leverkusen experiencing a difficult run of form, Florian Kohfeldt does not see a clear favourite. "Given Leverkusen’s individual brilliance, there are no clear favourites for this game. They have very good players like Leon Bailey or Karim Bellarabi. These two names in themselves show you the kind of quality we’ll be coming up against on Sunday," Kohfeldt explained. The boss is expecting the opposition to press Werder: "Leverkusen are well organised at the back and they quickly switch into forward pressing," analysed Kohfeldt, who says his team face a "big challenge" at home on Sunday. Florian Kohfeldt did add, however, that "we have shown over the last few weeks that we have what it takes to overcome these kinds of challenges."  

Personnel: Aside from the players with long-term injuries, almost all the Werder players are fit and back onboard. Florian Kohfeldt has Martin Harnik, Johannes Eggestein and Yuya Osako back and available for selection. Philipp Bargfrede’s availability is still in doubt – a final decision cannot be made until after Saturday’s training session. 

Determined to get another win at the Weser-Stadion (nordphoto).

Head to head record: With a draw or a win on Sunday, Florian Kohfeldt will extend is already sensational home record. Werder are 17 games unbeaten at the Weser-Stadion. Of the 76 Bundesliga meetings between Werder and Leverkusen, the Green-Whites have won 26, Leverkusen only 20, while the most common result between these two has been draws (30). Leverkusen have not drawn as often against any other team. Werder have managed to win three of the last five home games against the Werkself.    

The opposition: Bayer Leverkusen find themselves in the bottom third of the table. After an unexpectedly poor start with three defeats, their form showed signs of improvement with the following two wins, but Leverkusen are yet to win since then. After losing to league leaders Dortmund, Heiko Herrlich’s men went on to draw their last two games away to Freiburg and at home to Hannover. These results mean Leverkusen are experiencing their worst start to a season in twelve years. Particularly their defence has been vulnerable this campaign: 15 goals conceded in eight league games, and another three in Europe on Thursday night in Zürich, where they suffered their first Europa League defeat of the season.    

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