A third straight home win is on the cards as Werder embark on on their final game of 2022. Standing in the way, however, are the reigning DFB-Pokal champions RB Leipzig, who are coming to the wohninvest WESERSTADION this Saturday. (12th November, 15:30 CET). Although Ole Werner will “not make judgements on the year based on one game,” he made it clear that his side will do all they can in order to “pick up the three points.”
On the squad: Milos Veljkovic will miss the game as he is having problems with his Achilles tendon. Niclas Füllkrug returned to team training on Thursday. “We are flexible and we’ll have to see what makes sense both physically and mentally,” explained Werner. “We have done very well by relying on the things we know. That’s why I don’t think that we’ll make seven or eight changes, but I also don’t want to rule out the possibility of playing one or two of those who didn’t start in Munich.”
Ole Werner on the opponents: “You can’t choose the moment in time when you come up against teams and you will also come up against opponents who are doing well. The last time I saw them was when they played Mainz and they have developed a lot since then. They look very stable and they have lots of individual quality. However, we want to focus on ourselves and we want to be as tough to play against as possible.”
Previous encounters: Our record against Leipzig is far from ideal. The Green-Whites have averaged just 0.7 points per game in the previous ten meetings with the Red Bulls. Rose’s side, who are currently sat fifth in the table, have also won all of their last five matches in all competitions. There is, however, a good omen. Milos Veljkovic, Marco Friedl and Jiri Pavlenka all featured back in May 2019 when Werder beat Leipzig 2-1. Pavlenka even saved a penalty.
Leaving it late: SVW aren’t the only team in the Bundesliga who like to leave it late. Although Werder have still scored the most goals in the last 15 minutes so far this season with eleven, Marco Rose’s side aren’t far behind with nine. The Champions League participants have also only conceded one goal in this period.
The provider: Mitchel Weiser has been the main provider this season with seven assists. He has also assisted Werder’s last three goals in the Bundesliga, which came in the 2-1 win over Schalke and in the 6-1 defeat to FC Bayern. The only player in the club’s history (since records began) to have set up four Werder goals in a row was Diego back in August 2006. The 37-year-old Diego is incidentally set to end his playing career this Sunday for Flamengo (13th November, 20:00 CET).
Complied by WERDER.DE and Opta.
