Two teams seeking to climb into the top six of the Bundesliga table meet at Weserstadion on Saturday afternoon as Werder Bremen play host to Stuttgart.
The River Islanders and Die Roten butt heads for the first time since April when the former won this exact fixture by a 2-1 scoreline.
Match preview
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Werder Bremen have experienced an inconsistent 2024-25 campaign so far, recording four wins, three draws and four defeats in their opening 11 Bundesliga matches, with 17 goals scored and 22 conceded.
The River Islanders have alternated between victory and defeat in their last four games across all competitions, most recently losing 1-0 away against second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt courtesy of a first-half goal from Mario Gotze.
After finishing ninth in the Bundesliga table last season, Ole Werner's side currently sit 11th this term, seven points clear of the bottom three and only four points behind Borussia Dortmund in fifth. Victory on Saturday could see them move up to sixth if other results go their way.
Werder Bremen are now preparing for a return to Weserstadion where they ended a four-match winless run on home soil with a 2-1 success over Holstein Keil on November 9; not since September 2023 have the River Islanders won back-to-back Bundesliga games in front of their own fans.
Werner's side will boost their chances of success on Saturday if they tighten up at the back; they have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last nine Bundesliga games and only VfL Bochum (27) are enduring a longer run without a shutout in the division.
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Stuttgart ended a three-game winless run in all competitions with a 2-0 home win over Bochum in the Bundesliga last weekend, but they have since returned to losing ways in emphatic fashion after they suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat to Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Despite taking a fifth-minute lead through Ermedin Demirovic, Red Star quickly turned the game on its head by the 31st minute, before three second-half goals in the final 25 minutes of the match condemned the German outfit to their joint-heaviest defeat in the Champions League, along with a 4-0 loss to Barcelona back in March 2010.
Sebastian Hoeness's side are facing an uphill battle to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League, as they currently sit 27th in the 36-team table and are two points behind the last-16 playoff positions with three games remaining.
Before turning their attention to two favourable UCL fixtures against the bottom two clubs Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava, Stuttgart will return to Bundesliga action this weekend and will endeavour to end a three-game winless away run as well as climb from their current position of ninth.
Die Roten have reason to be optimistic of success on Saturday, as they have only lost one of their last four visits to Werder Bremen, while they are yet to lose to any team currently below them in the Bundesliga table this season (W2 D2).
Team News
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Werder Bremen are set to be without Keke Topp, who is nursing an ankle injury, while Felix Agu (knee), Oliver Burke (calf) and Jens Stage (neck) are all doubtful.
Leonardo Bittencourt and Senne Lynen could once again links arms in centre-midfield in the expected absence of Agu and Stage, while Mitchell Weiser and Derrick Kohn are set to provide width as wing-backs.
Marvin Ducksch scored a brace in Bremen's 2-1 win at home to Stuttgart in April and he is expected to lead the line, with support provided in attack by Marco Grull and Romano Schmid.
As for Stuttgart, Deniz Undav (thigh), Luca Raimund (thigh), El Bilal Toure (foot) and Dan-Axel Zagadou (knee) all remain sidelined with injuries, while Ameen Al Dakhil (illness) and Jamie Leweling (hamstring) are both doubtful.
Leonidas Stergiou will be pushing to return at right-back at the expense of Pascal Stenzel and could be joined in a four-man defence by Anthony Rouault, Jeff Chabot and Maximilian Mittelstadt.
Demirovic is Stuttgart's joint-top scorer this term with seven goals, but the striker has failed to make the ripple in his last five Bundesliga outings and will be hoping to end his goal drought this weekend.
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Veljkovic, Friedl, Jung; Weiser, Bittencourt, Lynen, Kohn; Grull, Schmid; Ducksch
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Stergiou, Rouault, Chabot, Mittelstadt; Karazor, Stiller; Vagnoman, Millot, Fuhrich; Demirovic
We say: Werder Bremen 2-2 Stuttgart
Hoeness will be seeking an immediate response from his Stuttgart players following their heavy midweek defeat, and Die Roten will back themselves to claim a positive result against an inconsistent Werder Bremen side.
There is little to separate these two teams, though, and we can see an entertaining end-to-end contest being played out in Bremen, with the spoils being shared on this occasion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
