In their sixth Bundesliga game of the season, 10th-placed Werder Bremen will hope to pick up their third win of the season when they host seventh-placed Freiburg at Weserstadion on Saturday.
The hosts have eight points and beat Hoffenheim 4-3 last time out on September 29, while the away side have nine points from five games but lost 3-0 against newly-promoted St Pauli last Saturday.
Match preview
![Keke Topp of Werder Bremen cheers after the final whistle with match ball after the match against Energie Cottbus, on August 19, 2024 [on August 22, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/34/keke-topp.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Keke Topp of Werder Bremen cheers after the final whistle with match ball after the match against Energie Cottbus, on August 19, 2024 [on August 22, 2024]")
© Imago
Werder Bremen's first half against Hoffenheim was enthralling, with the Green-Whites trailing 3-0 after just 12 minutes, but Stanley N'Soki was sent off for Hoffenheim in the 18th minute and his dismissal changed the course of the game.
The Gren-Whites found themselves on level terms by the 39th minute and took the lead shortly after half time when midfielder Jens Stage scored his third of the game.
Manager Ole Werner described the match as crazy, and while he was thrilled with the manner in which his team responded to N'Soki's red card, he noted that the start of the game was disastrous and that his side lost every duel in the opening stages.
Werner's team have only created 10 big chances in the league this term, but five of these came against Hoffenheim.
Werder Bremen's record in their last 10 Bundesliga fixtures is fairly strong, with the club winning five, drawing four and losing just one.
Their home form is somewhat more mixed, as while they have only lost one of their last five league games at Weserstadion, they have lost four, drawn three and won just two of their nine most recent league fixtures at home.
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Opponents Freiburg come into the clash having lost against St Pauli, who have just four points so far this season and had only scored one goal prior to their victory on September 28.
While the visitors might argue they should not have lost by a three-goal margin considering St Pauli only generated just over one xG, they can have no complaints with the fact they failed to score seeing as they missed a penalty in the 41st minute when they were trailing 1-0.
Boss Julian Schuster insisted that his team created enough chances to win the game, but other than the penalty, Freiburg had few opportunities in front of goal.
Despite their defeat, Schuster's side have still started the season better than last term considering they collected seven points from the first five matches of the Bundesliga season in 2023-24.
Freiburg have only won one of their last four away games in the league, losing twice, but prior to those matches they did win the previous three top-flight matches on the road.
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Team News
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Centre-back Niklas Stark of Werder Bremen is certain to miss out until next month, while Naby Keita remains internally suspended from the first team.
Attacker Justin Njinmah, defender Milos Veljkovic and midfielder Senne Lynen are all likely to miss out on Saturday, though all three could return in the middle of October.
The Green-Whites may look to start Marco Friedl in place of Stark in a back three alongside centre-backs Anthony Jung and Julian Malatini.
Freiburg will be without defender Kenneth Schmidt until early November due to an abdominal injury, while midfielder Daniel-Kofi Kyereh is expected to return at the end of the month.
Merlin Rohl is unlikely to be available for selection until the middle of October, though Manuel Gulde is thought to only need a few more days of recovery from the back injury he suffered on Wednesday.
The visitors have named an unchanged back four in their last two matches, so expect Lukas Kubler, Matthias Ginter, Philipp Lienhart and Christian Gunter to start in defence once again.
Ritsu Doan, Eren Dinkci and Vincenzo Grifo could start in attack behind striker Chukwubuike Adamu.
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Malatini, Friedl, Jung; Agu, Alvero, Stage, Kohn; Weiser, Schmid; Ducksch
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Eggestein, Osterhage; Doan, Dinkci, Grifo; Adamu
We say: Werder Bremen 1-1 Freiburg
Given the hosts have struggled to create many big chances this season, they could struggle to produce many opportunities once more on Saturday.
However, Freiburg were poor in the final third last time out, and it would therefore not be a surprise if their clash against Werder Bremen was ultimately low scoring.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
