Eighth will host third in the Bundesliga this Saturday (11.2.23 at 15:30 CET) at the wohninvest WESERSTADION. Ole Werner stressed at the pre-match press conference that it will be a really tough game against a top team. “They are in the top four and are in the title race now too. They have started 2023 really well and have won all their games since the winter break,” said Werder’s head coach on Dortmund. “We know we will need a really good performance to get something from this game.”
Squad news: Werner will have almost everyone available for tomorrow’s game. Manuel Mbom is a doubt after only training individually on Friday. “Otherwise, things are looking good regarding our squad. The only player who will definitely miss out through injury is Felix Agu,” confirmed the Werder boss. Marco Friedl won’t feature against BVB after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out, though Mitchell Weiser is eligible for selection again after serving his ban. New signing Maximilian Philipp is fit to play and Romano Schmid has recovered from his knee injury suffered during the winter break, meaning he is an option for the squad.
The head coach on the opponents: “Dortmund’s current side has a really good balance to it. They are physical at the back and keep things tight. They have lots of individual quality on the ball and are extremely dangerous in front of goal, which is no secret. They’re a complete team and are currently winning tight games. They are performing really well at the moment.”
Previous meetings: Werder have faced BVB 107 times so far in the Bundesliga. SVW have recorded 42 wins to Dortmund’s 46 (plus 19 draws). There has been an average of 3.25 goals scored during this fixture in the top flight, with the sides finding the net five times earlier this season. Werder produced an incredible comeback after going 2-0 down from goals by Julian Brandt and Raphael Guerreiro. Ole Werner’s side scored three times in injury time to gain all three points – the goals came from Lee Buchanan, Niklas Schmidt and Oliver Burke.
Aerial strength: Only Union Berlin have scored more headers than Werder this season (8), while SVW have only let in two headed goals at the other end, a league low. By comparison, Dortmund have scored just five headers and conceded seven!
Good home record: Werder have beaten Dortmund more often at home in the Bundesliga than they have other side (31 times). Additionally, BVB have only suffered more away defeats in their top-flight history at FC Bayern (34).
