SV Werder Bremen take on F.C. Hansa Rostock at the wohninvest WESERSTADION on Sunday at 13:30 CEST. Head coach Markus Anfang knows that this won’t be an easy game: “We have a tricky prospect ahead of us, but we are concentrating on ourselves. The team and all the staff want to inspire the fans,” said Anfang at his press conference on Friday.
Team news: Kevin Möhwald and Ömer Toprak both trained with the team this week, but whether they will be available to play against Rostock will be down to what Anfang made of the final training session before the game. Leonardo Bittencourt (knee) and Jiri Pavlenka (regenerative training) are both out of contention. Newcomers Marvin Ducksch and Roger Assalé could be included in the starting eleven. Both players are fit and ready to play.
The head coach on the game: The match against Karlsruher SC was the first time that the Green-Whites have kept a clean sheet this season. Anfang’s team has to be more effective in attack, however. Awaiting SVW is no ordinary promoted side, and Anfang is well aware of that: “Hansa Rostock showed in their last match against Dresden that they are a team who play an intense brand of football. They can defend man-to-man for 90 minutes at a very high intensity and they have a lot of experience in their squad,” explained the 47-year-old. The Werder coach expects his side to be focussed going into the fixture: “We have a tricky prospect ahead of us, but we are concentrating on ourselves. Among other things we trained specific situations to try to help us reach our full potential defensively and when attacking.”
The last meeting: The last meeting between the two teams was on 07.07.2015 in a friendly. Cedric Makiadi put Werder ahead in the fifth minute, but after a good first half, the game changed after the break. Julius Perstaller made it 1-1 in the 70th minute, denying SV Werder the victory. The last competitive meeting was even longer ago – a Bundesliga game on 15.04.2008. In a 2-1 win for Werder, Torsten Frings scored a belter from 25 yards out (57’), before Sebastian Hähnge equalised after 76 minutes. It was Werder who took the three points, however, with Ivan Klasnic scoring the winner. Naldo failed to convert from the penalty spot after Frings was brought down in the box, but Klasnic was quickest to react and made no mistake from the rebound (82)’.
Rostock’s streak away from home: F.C. Hansa Rostock are unbeaten in their last eight away matches, with six wins and two draws in that time. Moreover, they have only conceded three times during that run. Rostock picked up four points in the first two away games of a second division season for just the third time. In both previous seasons (1994/95 and 2006/07) they ended up being promoted to the Bundesliga.
Werder’s strong home record against Rostock: Markus Anfang is a bit of an expert when it comes to Rostock. In his first two games as a coach against them he won twice with Holstein Kiel. Werder Bremen themselves have a good record against Hansa. The Green-Whites have won their last four competitive games against them and there is no other current Bundesliga 2. team against whom they have a longer winning run. Werder have won six of their last seven games (one draw) against Hansa Rostock in Bremen.
Stats compiled from WERDER.DE and Opta.
