Full focus on the task ahead

The match preview ahead of an away trip to SC Freiburg

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Ole Werner coaches his team from the sideline.
Ole Werner knows his side are meeting a "top opponent" (Photo: nordphoto).
preliminary report
Friday, 21.10.2022 / 15:05

SV Werder have a tough task ahead of them as they visit SC Freiburg on Saturday (15:30). This weekend’s hosts sit six places above Werder, in third, but a Werder win would see the Green-Whites leapfrog them in the table. “I am aware of that, but I don’t place too much importance on the table at this stage of the season,” explained Werder’s head coach at this week’s pre-match press conference. “However, it is still a sign of all of the hard work the team have been doing this season so far. That we, as a promoted team, could go ahead of Freiburg by beating them is not bad for this part of the season.”

Squad news: There are still a few question marks surrounding the squad that will travel to Breisgau. Marco Friedl, Christian Groß and Niklas Stark will be re-assessed following the final training session. Werner confirmed, however that Nicolai Rapp (muscular issues) and Manuel Mbom (rehabilitation following an Achilles tear) are both definitely unavailable. Marvin Ducksch is back in the squad: “We are happy that he is back with us. His suspension is over,” said Werner ahead of the game.

The head coach on the opponent: “Freiburg are always good at winning their individual battles. You can see they’ve got a coach who has worked with the team for a long time and also a lot of players who have been there for a while. They also work at high intensity in defence and run very well, they always close down the spaces. They don’t take unnecessary risks in their build-up play and manipulate space well to squeeze out the opponent and make it hard to press. Set pieces will play a role, since Freiburg always come up with something new and hence often score from them. So we’ve got a difficult task ahead of us, against a current top Bundesliga side,” said Werner.

Successful record against Freiburg

Leonardo Bittencourt takes a shot.
Leonardo Bittencourt particularly enjoys playing against Freiburg (Photo: nordphoto).

Previous matches: Werder clearly lead the overall record between the sides, with 24 to ten victories of 44 competitive games played. A further ten games have been drawn. The Green-Whites are undefeated in the last six games in all competitions against SCF, a longer streak than any other Bundesliga team. The last meeting between these two sides in February 2021 ended in a goalless draw, and Werder’s most recent win in Breisgau came in May 2020, thanks to a winner from Leonardo Bittencourt.

Bittencourt’s favourite opponent: It wasn’t just the last clash against Freiburg that was good for Leo: Werder’s number 10 has scored seven goals in his last 12 Bundesliga appearances against the side: a personal high.

Good omen: Among current Bundesliga clubs, Werder have the second highest win rate against Freiburg (55%). SVW are the only team in the league to remain undefeated away from home so far, and have taken almost three-quarters of their points tally on foreign turf (73%).

 
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