It’s already been three months since SV Werder and Arminia Bielefeld last met in their friendly back in pre-season. On that evening, Davy Klaassen celebrated his first Werder appearance with a debut goal in a 1-0 win. The two teams meet again this evening (18:00 CEST).
In contrast to Werder, Arminia Bielefeld have had a mixed start to the season. Jeff Saibene’s side currently sit in 12th place in the 2. Bundesliga, with three wins in ten games. At the weekend, they suffered a 3-2 defeat to second-placed side Greuther Fürth.
Werder head coach Florian Kohfeldt will be without Yuya Osako, Milos Veljkovic, Ludwig Augustinsson and Theodor Gebre Selassie for the game. The group have been given a break until Thursday after playing a lot of games for club and country lately. Instead, players who haven’t featured as much lately will get the opportunity to get some minutes under their belts. It’s been confirmed that up-and-coming talent Josh Sargent will play in the game.
Arminia Bielefeld will be without goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who is likely out for a few weeks with a knee injury. Forward Jóan Símun Edmundsson will pose the biggest danger, having scored three goals and got four assists so far this season. The 27-year-old also has 51 caps for the Faroe Islands. The player Werder fans will know best, however, is Florian Hartherz. The left-back played ten Bundesliga games for the Green-Whites and is now a regular at Bielefeld. He’s played every minute of every league game for them this season.
