Werder Bremen will be bidding to bring to an end a four-game losing run in the Bundesliga when they continue their campaign away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday night.
The visitors are currently 10th in the Bundesliga table, boasting 30 points from their 27 league matches this season, while Frankfurt are sixth, five points clear of seventh-placed Augsburg.
Match preview
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Frankfurt will enter Friday's fixture off the back of a goalless draw with Union Berlin on Saturday, with the result moving them onto 41 points from 27 matches, leaving them in sixth position in the table.
Sixth would bring a spot in the Conference League playoff round for next season, and they are five points ahead of seventh-placed Augsburg in the race for European football, but there is a nine-point gap to fifth-placed RB Leipzig, who are currently in a position to qualify for the group stage of the Europa League.
Frankfurt have only lost six of their 27 league matches this season, which is the same as third-placed Stuttgart and just one more than the reigning champions Bayern Munich, but too many draws (11) have cost them a spot higher up the division heading into the final stages of the campaign.
The Eagles have won six, drawn six and lost one of their 13 home league matches this season, and they will be hosting a Bremen outfit that have lost seven of their 13 league games on their travels in 2023-24.
Dino Toppmoller's side only have the league to think about for the rest of the campaign, and they have some standout matches between now and the middle of May, taking on Stuttgart, Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen and Leipzig before the season finishes.
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Bremen, meanwhile, on a four-game losing run, going down to Hoffenheim, Borussia Dortmund, Union Berlin and Wolfsburg since picking up a point in a 1-1 draw with SV Darmstadt 98 on February 24.
The team's last victory in the Bundesliga was a 1-0 success at FC Koln in the middle of February, and the disappointing run of form has seen them drop into 10th position in the table.
Ole Werner's side boast a record of eight wins, six draws and 13 defeats from their 27 league matches this season to collect 30 points, and they are level on points with 11th-placed Heidenheim and three behind Hoffenheim in ninth.
Bremen are only actually four points ahead of 15th-placed Bochum, but they are 10 clear of 16th-placed Mainz 05, so there are no relegation fears at this stage, but a couple more defeats in quick succession would certainly leave the team looking over their shoulder at a vital stage of the campaign.
The Green-Whites have lost two of their last three Bundesliga matches with Frankfurt, including a 2-0 defeat in the corresponding fixture last term, but the two teams played out a 2-2 draw when they locked horns in the reverse match earlier this season.
Team News
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Frankfurt will definitely be without the services of three players on Friday, with Sasa Kalajdzic, Mehdi Loune and Sebastian Rode all on the sidelines with long-term knee injuries.
The hosts will also need to make a check on Hugo Larsson, who has a hip problem, while Aurelio Buta is suffering with an illness and is therefore a doubt for the league affair on Friday night.
Head coach Toppmoller is expected to introduce Philipp Max into his XI, with the 30-year-old coming off the bench at the interval against Union Berlin last time out, but it is otherwise likely to be the same XI.
There is currently a host of speculation surrounding the future of Donny van de Beek, who has struggled to impress since arriving on loan from Manchester United, and he is set to continue on the bench.
As for Bremen, Anthony Jung is suspended due to his red card against Wolfsburg last time out, but there will be returns for Jens Stage, Mitchell Weiser and Senne Lynen, who were banned for the team's last match.
Amos Pieper and Marco Friedl are in the latter stages of their injury recoveries but are likely to miss out once again, while Dawid Kownacki, Niklas Stark, Justin Njinmah, Skelly Alvero and Michael Zetterer are also absent.
Julian Malatini is expected to benefit from Jung's suspension, while there will be another start at centre-forward for Marvin Ducksch, who has scored nine Bundesliga goals during a positive campaign on a personal note.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Koch, Pacho; Ebimbe, Skhiri, Gotze, Max; Marmoush, Ekitike, Knauff
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Pavlenka; Veljkovic, Pieper, Malatini; Weiser, Schmid, Stage, Schmidt, Deman; Ducksch, Woltemade
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Werder Bremen
Frankfurt have only lost once at home in the Bundesliga this season, and we are expecting them to pick up all three points on Friday. Bremen have scored just 14 times in their 13 away league games this term, and the out-of-form side could suffer a fifth straight league defeat in this contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
