Werder Bremen-Borussia Dortmund is a Bundesliga match of the twentieth day and is played on Saturday at 15:30: line-ups, predictions, TV and streaming.
Many of Borussia Dortmund’s second-tier squad responded in the German Cup round of 16 against Bochum, further confirmation of the excellent health of the Gialloneri, who have been winning since the Bundesliga resumed. Despite the physiological turnover, Edin Terzic’s team won 2-1 in one of the many Ruhr derbies – among the most heartfelt – advancing to the next round.
With their success in the DFB Pokal, they have now won five consecutive matches since January. The coach, in addition to starting centre forward Haller – who was forced to miss the entire first part of the season following an operation to remove testicular cancer – suddenly found goals again. Borussia Dortmund have returned to scoring with some consistency, as evidenced by the 13 goals scored in the last four matches, in which the yellow-and-whites have beaten Augsburg, Mainz, Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg, re-entering the Champions League zone but also re-entering the fight for the Meisterschale. In fact, Bayern Munich’s slow start – three draws in a row and one win – has fuelled the hopes of several rivals, including Borussia, to steal the title from the Bavarians, champions for ten years in a row.
Werder Bremen loose cannon
In order to keep pace with Bayern, who are currently +3 up on Terzic’s men, Reus and his team-mates will have to go for the full headlines in a tricky away match in Bremen.
Ole Werner
Newly promoted Werder is carving out a role as the Bundesliga’s loose cannon. Despite its often mixed results, it is eighth in the table, close to Europe. In the last few days they have redeemed their two previous defeats, getting the better of Wolfsburg and Stuttgart, 2-1 and 2-0 respectively. Ole Werner, coach of the green-and-whites, can count on the tournament’s top scorer, Niclas Fullkrug, who has scored eight of his 13 goals in home matches. In the first leg last August, Werder Bremen inflicted an unbelievable defeat on Dortmund: never before in the history of the German top league had anyone managed to come back from two goals down in added time.
The Prediction
Werder Bremen are an unpredictable and moody team, but capable of putting anyone in trouble. They will need the best Borussia Dortmund to defeat the green-and-whites and avenge the absurd defeat in the first leg. The Gialloneri favourites in a match of more than two goals overall
The Werder Bremen-Borussia Dortmund matchday squad
- WERDER BREMA (3-5-2): Pavlenka; Pieper, Veljkovic, Stark; Weiser, Bittencourt, Groß, Gruev, Jung; Füllkrug, Ducksch.
- BORUSSIA DORTMUND (4-2-3-1): Kobel; Ryerson, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Emre Can, Bellingham; Brandt, Reus, Reyna; Haller.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
