Bundesliga | Gameweek 15

Dec 21, 2024 at 2.30pm UK

wohninvest WESERSTADION (Bremen)

Werder Bremen vs Union Berlin

Match preview

With 22 points from 14 matches, Bremen are enjoying their best start to a Bundesliga season in 13 years under Ole Werner, and the River Islanders will be looking for a third straight win this weekend.

Should they do so, they could record three wins in a row for the first time since beating Bayern Munich (1-0), Freiburg (3-1) and Mainz (1-0) at the turn of the year.

Since then, the hosts have twice come close to making it three on the bounce, beating Stuttgart and Augsburg in April before the current run began.

Having been denied a third successive win by Borussia Mönchengladbach a few months ago, Werner's men will be hoping to break a run of eight games without a win in all competitions (seven in the Bundesliga).

The Berlin outfit have a history of playing against Bremen, as evidenced by their six wins over the River Islanders, but a failure to pick up maximum points in two months is bound to worry Bo Svensson.

Not even a trip to basement club Bochum provided respite for the Iron, who were held to a 1-1 draw despite playing with 10 men for over an hour after Koji Miyoshi's 13th-minute dismissal.

The 12th-placed Eisernen will be keen to respond to their failure to get the job done and will be looking for a better performance away from home in their quest for just their second win away from home this season.

Given that the Iron's only away win of the campaign came at the home of the second-bottom side, the travelling support could be forgiven for not looking forward to Saturday's trip to in-form opponents, despite a seemingly resolute backline that has conceded 15 goals in 2024-25 - only Bayern (12) have conceded fewer.

Digging deeper, Union's only other away win in 2024-25 came at Hoffenheim (1-0) in February, underlining the Berlin club's woeful form on the road.

Only against Koln (seven wins) do the Iron have a better record than Bremen (six), but Svensson's men will need more than historical precedent to end their miserable run.

Recent Performance

Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:LWLDWW

Werder Bremen form (all competitions):WLDWWW

Union Berlin Bundesliga form:LDLLLD

Team News

Bremen will be without several players due to injury: Felix Agu (knee) and Leonardo Bittencourt (groin) are expected to miss out, while the injured trio of Isak Hansen-Aaroen, Justin Njinmah and Keke Topp are all nursing ankle problems.

Jens Stage and Marvin Ducksch have scored six and four goals respectively for the hosts, and the in-form duo will be looking to add to their tally on Saturday.

Kevin Vogt will miss a game after picking up his fifth yellow card against Bochum last week, while Andrej Ilic (muscle), Jerome Roussillon (leg), Woo-Yeong Jeong (head) and Yannic Stein (shoulder) are all injured.

With Jeong (two goals) a possible absentee for the away side, Svensson will have to rely on the only players to have scored more than once this season - Benedict Hollerbach (three) and Tom Rothe - to get the better of the River Islanders.

Possible starting lineup

Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:

Zetterer; Stark, Friedl, Jung; Weiser, Stage, Lynen, Kohn; Schmid, Grull; Ducksch

Union Berlin possible starting lineup:

Ronnow; Querfeld, Doekhi, Leite; Skov, Schafer, Khedira, Rothe; Skarke, Vertessen, Hollerbach