Sports Mole gives a preview of Saturday’s Bundesliga clash between Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen, including predictions, team news and possible line-ups.
Borussia Dortmund take over Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Alongside Bayern Munich, BVB are the only other side with a 100 percent record after two games, while newly promoted Bremen are unbeaten with two draws.
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game preview
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In fact, Dortmund showed a kind of spirit that hasn’t always been felt at the club in recent years as they beat Freiburg 3-1 away on the road last Friday.
debutant Anton Modest snagged an early opportunity before the hosts’ growing pressure paid off Christian Gunter‘s cross mark from the left flank find Matthew Gunter on the back post. The defender held the ball for Michael Gregorych to loop a header Gregor Koebel and in the upper corner of the net.
Since his team is obviously not playing very well, Edin Terzic wasted little time in the second half to turn to his bench, with three substitutes eventually earning their way to the scorers list in a masterful display of in-game management.
Jamie Bynoe Gittens – who was rewarded with a new three-year contract as of this week – scored his first goal for the club with a speculative shot from 25 yards out when Markus Flekken‘s attempted catch went horribly wrong before another youthful substitute turned the game upside down Youssoufa Moukoko recklessly pounced on a loose ball to put the visitors ahead in the 84th minute.
Marius Wolf confidently sliced in from the right flank before firing his weaker left foot into the bottom corner to take the three points and ensure Dortmund emerged from a difficult game by keeping pace with Bayern at the top of the table. They have to ensure that before the meeting on October 8th in the Westfalenstadion.
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Bremen, on the other hand, would certainly have picked up two points from two games on their return to the Bundesliga, with two 2-2 draws ensuring fans weren’t disappointed in either entertainment or results.
Nicholas Vollkrug continues to gain strength, with the mighty striker’s ball-head from 12 meters opening the scoring after just four minutes against Stuttgart last weekend. He almost made it with his attacking partner Marvin Ducksch showed excellent awareness to knock it off on the edge of the area, with Fullkrug’s attempt rebounding off the bar.
Stuttgart equalized before the breakthrough Wataru Endo‘s vicious long-range shot after a clean interaction from his teammates earlier Sasa KalajdzicFound ‘s slide rule passport Silaswho ran on goal and never looked like putting the visitors ahead in the 77th minute.
However, as a substitute, Bremen was unbeatable Oliver Burk opened his account for the club by clinging to a long ball and pushing the ball past a helpless man Florian Mueller in the opponent’s goal to send the home fans into ecstasy with the equalizer in the 95th minute.
Head coach who conceded four goals in two games Ol Werner hopes to bolster his defense ahead of a tricky test in Dortmund but is confident his in-form strikers can cause plenty of trouble going the other way.
Bundesliga form of Borussia Dortmund:
Form of Borussia Dortmund (all competitions):
Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:
Form Werder Bremen (all competitions):
Team News
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Karim Adeyemi (toe) and Nicholas Sule (Muscle) may be forced to sit out at least one more game if he has sustained injuries in recent games while Sebastian Haller continues his lengthy recovery from having a testicular tumor removed, so Modeste should lead the line to make his home debut.
After the likes of Moukoko, Bynoe-Gittens and Wolf made such a great impression off the bench against Freiburg, Terzic might be tempted to change his starting XI, but he’s more likely to go back with the same one and focus on the trio if the Things shouldn’t work his way against Bremen.
Mateu Morey and Giovanni Reina have little playability and are unlikely to be involved.
Werder Bremen meanwhile travels without the injured duo Jean Manuel Mbom (Achilles) and Dikeni Salifou (kidnapper), while Eren Dinkci has little game fitness and probably won’t make the trip.
Christian Groß missed last week’s draw against Stuttgart with an infection but the midfielder should be available for a return to the team Ilya Gruev.
Otherwise, Werner is unlikely to make any changes with former Sheffield United striker Burke on standby to make a big impression again from the bench.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting line-up:
bucket; Meunier, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Dahoud, Bellingham; Danger, Reus, Paint; modest
Werder Bremen possible starting line-up:
Pavlenka; Pieper, Veljkovic, Friedl; Wise, Bittencourt, Stage, Large, Young; Vollkrug, Ducksch
We say: Borussia Dortmund 3:1 Werder Bremen
With Fullkrug and Ducksch in such great form we can imagine the visitors could score but Dortmund should have too much for them overall.
As last week’s win in Freiburg showed, BVB don’t even need their regular line-up to fire for record victories, although they should be fueled by the battle for places.
For data analysis of the most likely outcomes, goal scores and more for this game, please click here.
top tip
Our expert Tipster partners at Sporita.com predict over 2.5 goals in this game. Click here to find out what else they predict for this game and for more of their football best tips.Above 2.5: Data