In the final round of fixtures before the winter break, Werder Bremen, currently five points ahead of Union Berlin in the Bundesliga table, aim for a third consecutive victory when they host the Iron Ones in Saturday's gameweek 15 clash at Weserstadion.
Given their negative record against the capital club — two wins, six defeats — the hosts aim to take advantage of an opponent winless in seven league games to claim a third league triumph in this fixture.
Match preview
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With 22 points accrued after 14 gameweeks, Bremen are enjoying their finest start to a Bundesliga season in 13 years under Ole Werner, and the River Islanders aim for a third win on the trot this weekend.
Success for Die Werderaner could see them notch three victories in succession for the first time in the competition since beating Bayern Munich (1-0), Freiburg (3-1) and Mainz (1-0) at the turn of the year.
Since that run, the hosts have twice come close to claiming three victories on the spin, when they got the better of Stuttgart and Augsburg in April before the ongoing run.
Having been prevented from securing a third straight triumph by Borussia Monchengladbach months back, Werner's men hope to break down a Union side on an eight-match winless run in all competitions (seven in the Bundesliga).
The Berlin outfit may historically enjoy playing Bremen, highlighted by claiming six wins against the River Islanders, but failure to secure maximum points in two months must worry Bo Svensson.
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Not even facing cellar-dwelling Bochum provided respite for the Iron Ones, who could only draw against the bottom side (1-1) despite playing against 10 men for over an hour after Koji Miyoshi's 13th-minute sending-off.
Keen to respond to not getting the job done, the 12th-placed Die Eisernen look to produce an improved performance on the road to claim only their second success away from the capital this term.
Considering that the Iron Ones' only away triumph this term came at the home of the league's second-bottom side, you would forgive the travelling support for not looking forward to Saturday's trip to in-form opponents, despite a seemingly resolute backline that has conceded 15 goals in 2024-25 — only Bayern (12) have let in fewer.
Digging deeper, Union's only other road success in 2024 came at Hoffenheim (1-0) in February, underlining the Berlin club's miserable form on their travels.
Only against Koln (seven wins) do the Iron Ones enjoy a healthier record than Bremen (six), but Svensson's men need more than historical precedent to end their wretched sequence without success.
Team News
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Bremen have several players absent due to injury: Felix Agu (knee) and Leonardo Bittencourt (groin) are anticipated to miss out, as well as injured trio Isak Hansen-Aaroen, Justin Njinmah and Keke Topp, who have ankle problems.
Jens Stage and Marvin Ducksch have scored six and four goals, respectively, for the hosts, and the in-form players look to increase their tally on Saturday.
Kevin Vogt will miss one game after picking his fifth yellow against Bochum last week, and the quartet of Andrej Ilic (muscle), Jerome Roussillon (leg), Woo-Yeong Jeong (head) and Yannic Stein (shoulder) are out injured.
With Jeong (two goals) potentially missing for the away side, Svensson will rely on the only players to score more than once this term — Benedict Hollerbach (three) and Tom Rothe — to stun the River Islanders.
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Stark, Friedl, Jung; Weiser, Stage, Lynen, Kohn; Schmid, Grull; Ducksch
Union Berlin possible starting lineup:
Ronnow; Querfeld, Doekhi, Leite; Skov, Schafer, Khedira, Rothe; Skarke, Vertessen, Hollerbach
We say: Werder Bremen 2-1 Union Berlin
Despite losing four of their last five Bundesliga away fixtures, only Bayern (3-0) beat Union by more than a goal.
While Bremen are anticipated to secure three points, the outcome might be closer than the form table suggests.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
