Bundesliga 2022-23: Werder Bremen vs Dortmund: Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head, telecast

Ole Werner's team take on the Black and Yellows, in round 20 of the Bundesliga, at home, in their 42,100 capacity WeserStadion, Bremen.

Werder Bremen looked distraught in back-back defeats, a heavy 7-1 loss to an inspired Koln, followed by a 2-1 narrow loss to Union Berlin. Having led them from the second division, last season, 34-year-old Ole Werner has been able to bring calm amidst the difficult storm, and lead them up to the eighth spot with 27 points, only 7 points off a European spot.

His side bounced back to post those two defeats wining 2-1 against Wolfsburg, and another 2-0 win over struggling Stuttgart, last Sunday. Werder will be hoping to take at least a point off Bundesliga challengers Dortmund who're in third place coming into this game, who've won all four games since the resumption post the World Cup. Also, for Borussia Dortmund, goal-scoring hasn't been an issue in the Bundesliga this season, with the 4th highest goal-scoring record (averaging 2 goals per match, besides creating the third-highest amount of chances (43) in the league.Both teams have scored exactly 175 goals in the 107 Bundesliga meetings to date. Dortmund has the slight edge overall though, with 46 wins to Bremen's 42, and goals would be definitely on the cards in this encounter.

Kick-off: 

Saturday, 11-02-2023; 2:30 pm (GMT), 08:00 pm (IST)

Werder Bremen form (all competitions): W-L-L-W-W

Borussia Dortmund form (all competitions): W-W-W-W-W

Players to watch

Werder Bremen

Niclas Füllkrug

The tall and lanky forward made quite the impression on German fans in the World Cup in Qatar, alongside Bayern prodigy Jamal Musiala were among the key players, who made an impression, despite Die Mannschaft, underwhelming group stage exit. However, manager Hansi Flick selected him for a reason, and his career-best tally of thirteen goals, in eighteen appearances in Bundesliga this year makes him the current top-scorer in the German top flight. He's struck a fantastic partnership upfront with fellow veteran Marvin Ducksh, who's also contributed with 4 goals and 5 assists, with Fullkrug at the receiving end of his assists. Bremen have slowly crept up to the eighth spot due to the duo's threat upfront and Niclas will look to add to his golden boot-leading tally and make a statement against in-form Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund

Marco Reus

The Borussia Dortmund captain hasn't yet been up to his best after his return to the Dortmund starting line-up, a couple of weeks ago, away against Bayer Leverkusen, on January 29th. His unfortunate relationship with injuries has always hindered him, from reaching his true potential. His ankle has always needed nursing, throughout his career and he's been dealing with it since September last year, leading to missing a substantial amount of league games.

He was primed to make the Germany squad for the World Cup in Doha, in December, however, the same ankle ruled him out. He made an appearance on the bench against Vfl Bochum, last night in the DFB Pokal, Round of 16 ties, in the 67th minute, and scored immediately after, tapping in a Jude Bellingham square ball. Werder Bremen has been his favourite opponent over the years in the Bundesliga, with 15 goals and 10 assists, 22 appearances, and will look too involved amongst the goals again this weekend.

Team & Injury News

Werder Bremen: For the home side , defensive midfielder Agu (patella tendon), full back Friedl (suspended), and defensive midfielder Mbom(calf injury) will be missing this weekend.

Borussia Dortmund: For Dortmund, in goal scoring form forward Adeyemi (suspended), youngster Kamara (knee), right-back Morey (match fitness), and veteran full- back Meunier(muscular) will miss out.

Head to Head

Matches: 31Werder Bremen: 6Borussia Dortmund: 18Draw: 7

Predicted Lineups

Werder Bremen predicted lineup (3-5-2):

Pavlenka; Pieper, Veljkovic, Stark; Weiser, Bittencourt, Groß, Gruev, Jung; Füllkrug (c), Ducksch

Borussia Dortmund predicted lineup (4-2-3-1):

Kobel; Ryerson, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Can, Bellingham; Brandt, Reus (c), Reyna; Haller

Match Prediction

Borussia Dortmund are unbeaten against Werder Bremen away from home in six games and are also unbeaten in their last six away games overall in the Bundesliga. Bremen come into this on the back of a comfortable 2-0 win away at Stuttgart, last weekend. The home team have now enjoyed back-to-back victories as they now face an in-form Borussia Dortmund side that, under the management of Edin Terzic, have shown a lot of pragmatism and control in recent away matches against Mainz and Bayer Leverkusen. Dortmund should have enough fire-power to continue their impressive away record and win this one in Bremen.

Prediction: Werder Bremen 1 - 3 Borussia Dortmund

Telecast

India – SonyLIVUSA – ESPN+, FuboTVUK – Sky SportsNigeria – Canal+ Sport