Werder Bremen vs Hoffenheim Preview: Team News & Prediction
by Alex Sarwar ·
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Third-placed Hoffenheim are looking to hold onto their lofty spot in the table by making it four straight Bundesliga victories as they visit Werder Bremen
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: Now eight games winless
Werder Bremen’s results continue to see them drop down the league table to the point where only three points and once place now separates them from the bottom three heading into this game. A narrow 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena this past weekend extended their winless run in the Bundesliga to eight matches.
A lack of attacking threat proved decisive from a Werder point of view and it’s the third time in four games that they’ve failed to find the net. Hardly a recipe for success going into another fixture against a European contender.
Hoffenheim preview: Ilzer’s men continue to soar
What a season Hoffenheim and their head coach Christian Ilzer are having right now. Another three points, this time away at Eintracht Frankfurt saw them keep their place in the top three over the weekend and extend their Bundesliga winning streak to three games, with nine goals scored across those wins.
It’s not as if those wins have been against subpar opponents either. Their last two victories have come against sides in the top eight and Hoffenheim now boast ten points accumulated from the last 12 available to them.
Werder Bremen team news: Pieper
After being forced off early at the weekend, Pieper is likely to miss out here with Malatini replacing him and he could be joined in defence by Schmetgens with Friedl suspended.
Predicted XI: (3-5-2): Backhaus; Malatini, Schmetgens, Coulibaly; Sugawara, Stage, Lynen, Schmid, Schmidt; Topp, Njinmah
Unavailable: Adeh (Injured), Agu (Injured), Boniface (Injured), Friedl (Suspended), Stark (Injured), Weiser (Injured), Wober (Injured)
Questionable: Pieper (Injured), Schmidt (Injured)
Hoffenheim team news: Three missing
Kabak should keep his place as part of the back three after scoring this past weekend, whilst Campbell, Hlozek and Machida are all out injured.
Predicted XI: (3-4-3): Baumann; Kabak, Hajdari, Bernardo; Coufal, Promel, Burger, Prass; Kramaric, Moerstedt, Asllani
Unavailable: Campbell (Injured), Hlozek (Injured), Machida (Injured)
Questionable:
Werder Bremen vs Hoffenheim prediction
Werder Bremen find themselves tasked with stopping a juggernaut here when taking into account the recent form and performances of Hoffenheim, particularly from an attacking perspective. All the momentum is with the visitors right now and it’s hard to see Werder containing them for 90 minutes. However, at home you would expect Horst Steffen’s side to provide more resistance and certainly offer more of an offensive threat.
When taking into account how well Hoffenheim are playing and how consistently they find themselves picking up points, it’s worth backing them via the double chance market to at least come away from this one with a draw, if not victory.
Werder Bremen vs Hoffenheim tip: Double chance - draw/Hoffenheim
