SV Werder Bremen will face FC Schalke 04 on Saturday evening (29/4, 18:30 CEST), another meeting against a direct rival who are fighting to stay in the league. After the away win against Hertha BSC, three points at Schalke could be a decisive step towards securing Werder’s place in the league. Head coach Ole Werner will again be without Niclas Füllkrug, but Marvin Ducksch and Niklas Schmidt are back in the squad after illness.
The squad: At the press conference on Thursday afternoon, there were question marks surrounding a few players. Marvin Ducksch and Niklas Schmidt were still absent from team training on Thursday due to illness. Both have now recovered, as have Amos Pieper and Eren Dinkci. However, Niclas Füllkrug (calf problems) and Felix Agu, who is slowly integrating into team training after a lengthy injury, will both not be available.
Ole Werner on the opposition: “They strengthened well over the winter, and the coach (Thomas Reis) has also brought a structure to the team. Schalke need every point, and we will be able to feel that on the pitch. With their power and directness, they are certainly dangerous, and we will have to bring the good feeling from the week of training onto the pitch.”
Recent matches: In the reverse fixture, the match also fell on Saturday evening. SVW won 2-1 under the floodlights at the sold-out wohninvest WESERSTADION. The man of the match was Mitchell Weiser, who assisted two goals, firstly with a back heel to Niclas Füllkrug in the first half and then with a fantastic cross to Marvin Ducksch in the second half to make it 2-0. Schalke only managed to get one goal back in the 89th minute. SV Werder haven’t celebrated as many victories against any other club as against FC Schalke 04 (49). Werder have lost only one of their last 11 competitive matches against the Knappen (8W, 2D).
Finding the net away from home: Only the top two in the table, FC Bayern (35) and Borussia Dortmund (24), have scored more away goals than Werder Bremen (23) this season in the Bundesliga. Against Hertha, Werder scored four on their way to victory, while in the games against Mainz and Gladbach, two goals in both games earned two draws.
A good record on Saturday evening: Schalke are unbeaten in their last three games on Saturday evening, with one win and two draws. They have only lost once at the Veltins-Arena this season at 18:30 against FC Bayern. Otherwise, in the other four matches at that time, they have won twice and drawn once.
