Despite the historic 3-2 comeback against Dortmund being over a year ago, the memory of the fixture will act as inspiration for the Green-Whites ahead of their match on Friday, 20th October (20:30 CEST). SV Werder are fully aware of how difficult the clash will be, but nevertheless travel to the Signal Iduna Park hoping to repeat last year’s success. If the hosts lose focus for a split second, SVW will be wide awake to pounce on their mistakes.
Squad update: In the pre-match press conference, head coach Ole Werner announced that Jiri Pavlenka, Naby Keïta, Amos Pieper and Niklas Stark definitely won’t be in the squad. Eduardo dos Santos Haesler is also unavailable, meaning that goalkeeper Michael Zetterer will make his first Bundesliga appearance this season for the Green-Whites and Spyros Angelidis will be on the bench as his back-up. Christian Groß and Nicolai Rapp have both recovered from illnesses and are back in full training, alongside Justin Njinmah, who had been rested at one stage during the week. All of the players on international duty have now returned safely to Bremen, apart from Rafael Borré, who will travel straight to Dortmund via Amsterdam.
Ole Werner on the game: “Playing in Dortmund in the biggest stadium in the league on a Friday evening is a highlight that I’m really looking forward to. I’m certainly excited to see Fülle again, yet this is a game between Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen. They have a defensive unit that possesses experience and quality. Nevertheless, every team offers spaces which we can use to our advantage and look to find when we have the ball. It’s also vital that we focus on ourselves and deliver our best possible performance on the pitch. We need to be ready to exploit any chances that the opposition may give us.”
Previous meetings: SV Werder are set to face Borussia Dortmund for the 109th time in the Bundesliga. In total, BVB have picked up five more wins (47) than SVW (42) in head-to-head meetings. Additionally, the record goalscorer in this clash, Marco Reus (10 goals), is still playing for BVB. Nevertheless, the Green-Whites were the last team to pick up three points away at the Signal Iduna. On that occasion, Werner’s side secured the aforementioned, historic 3-2 away win courtesy of a crazy comeback in the last few minutes of the game.
Strong at home: SVW have the chance to break two of BVB’s home streaks at once. Borussia Dortmund are unbeaten in 34 games at home on a Friday evening (W25, D9), with their last home defeat on a Friday coming in January 2004. On that occasion, they fell to defeat against FC Schalke 04 in the Revierderby, with two former Werder players playing a crucial role for S04. Schalke’s keeper Frank Rost saved penalties from Jan Koller (9’) and Torsten Frings (74’), whilst Ebbe Sand scored the winning goal for the Royal Blues in the 89th minute, securing a 1-0 win.
Defenders who are dangerous in front of goal: The defenders have scored five out of 16 goals for BVB so far this season, with Mats Hummels (2), Julian Ryerson (2) and Nico Schlotterbeck (1) all having appeared on the scoresheet. Consequently, BVB have the most threatening defence in the Bundesliga – Borussia also came out on top in this category last season, with ten goals coming from defensive players.
