Werder Bremen vs Heidenheim Preview: Team News & Prediction
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A relegation dogfight with the stakes sky high awaits us as a Werder Bremen side winless in their last 13 league games take on 18th-placed Heidenheim.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – ESPN
How to watch online: UK – Not televised / US – ESPN+
Werder Bremen preview: Unwanted streak goes on
The last round of Bundesliga fixtures saw Werder Bremen extend their long run of league games without a win as they were beaten 2-1 away to St. Pauli, another struggling side, who leapfrogged them as a result of victory. That also made it three straight losses for Werder in the German top flight and saw them dumped into the automatic relegation places.
Now the pressure really does ramp up, such is the reality of being inside those bottom two spots and the feeling of those relegation walls closing in on you. Daniel Thioune was only made head coach earlier in the month and must already be feeling the heat amid an angry Werder Bremen fanbase.
Heidenheim preview: Three points a necessity
Despite Werder Bremen’s recent problems, their losing streak and now being inside the bottom two, this match is without a doubt more important from a Heidenheim perspective. They showed real positivity and can take huge heart from their 3-3 draw against Champions League chasing Stuttgart last time out.
That result ended their four-match losing streak which had seen them fail to score in three of those games. Now it’s about putting together a complete performance from their perspective, being clinical in attack but also solid at the back.
Werder Bremen team news: Boniface most notable miss
Werder Bremen are without a number of players for the visit of Heidenheim but the biggest absentee is undoubtedly striker Victor Boniface with a long-term knee injury.
Predicted XI: (3-4-3): Backhaus; Malatini, Stark, Friedl; Sugawara, Stage, Lynen, Deman; Njinmah, Grull, Milosevic
Unavailable: Agu (Injured), Boniface (Injured), Coulibaly (Injured), Mbangula (Injured), Pieper (Injured), Weiser (Injured), Wober (Injured)
Questionable: Topp (Injured), Schmidt (Injured)
Heidenheim team news: Couple of illness layoffs
Both Busch and Ramaj won’t travel for Heidenheim with both of them being ill, whilst Stergiou faces a late fitness test due to a muscle problem.
Predicted XI: (3-4-3): Feller; Mainka, Gimber, Siersleben; Traore, Niehues, Dorsch, Behrens; Dinkci, Pieringer, Ibrahimovic
Unavailable: Busch (Illness), Paqarada (Injured), Ramaj (Illness)
Questionable: Stergiou (Injured)
Werder Bremen vs Heidenheim prediction
This feels like a contest that both these two teams have to win. Werder Bremen have the least ground to make up but they are at home, whilst for Heidenheim it’s a matter of avoiding getting cut adrift from the chasing pack, which is inevitable if they were to be beaten here. When you consider that a draw wouldn’t be an ideal result for either, this fuels the likelihood of a more entertaining game, rather than one that sees neither side take any huge risks from an attacking point of view.
Therefore, goals may well be on the menu over the course of 90 minutes as Werder and Heidenheim go all out for what would be the biggest win of their respective seasons. Neither backline have covered themselves in glory across the campaign, shipping a combined total of 95 goals across 46 games and backing both teams to score has to be favoured.
Werder Bremen vs Heidenheim tip: Both teams to score
