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Next Saturday, 16.03.2024, 1. FC Union Berlin will welcome SV Werder Bremen for the 26th Bundesliga matchday. Kick off in the Stadion An der Alten Försterei is at 15:30.
The lie of the land
Bremen lost 2-1 at home to fourth-placed Dortmund at the Weserstadion last weekend having only won four of their nine games since the turn of the year, and now making the side from the Weser without a win in three. The Green-Whites celebrated their last success on matchday 22 with a 1-0 away win against 1. FC Köln back in mid-February.
Union have also been without a win for three matches, having previously gone unbeaten for the previous four, with two draws and two wins. Last weekend, they lost 2-0 away at VfB Stuttgart.
The opponents
Bremen are currently tenth in the table with 30 points. With 25 matches played so far, they have won eight, lost eleven and drawn six, scoring 34 goals, and conceding 39.
In front of goal the most dangerous Bremen player this season has been their number seven, Marvin Ducksch, with 15 goals in 25 games, making the Dortmund native directly involved in just under half of all Bremen’s goals. But while Ducksch will likely be in action on Saturday, in addition to the three defenders Marco Friedl, Amos Pieper and Niklas Stark, who are missing through injury, the SVW coach will also have to do without midfielder Romano Schmid who picked up his fifth yellow card against BVB on Sunday.
The reunion
Although there are no active players with a Berlin past in the current Bremen squad, assistant-coach Marie-Louise Eta played 84 times for the club. There will also be a familiar face on the opposition bench in the shape of assistant coach Patrick Kohlmann – the German-Irish left-back – who, between 2008 and 2014 made 175 appearances for Union.
The head to head
Saturday’s match will be the ninth between the sides, Union having won five of the previous eight, while the remaining three, including a first-round battering in the cup in 2010, and the most recent game, last year, were won by Bremen.
Personnel
Union head coach Nenad Bjelica will be without András Schäfer due to suspension, while Janik Haberer is also missing through injury.
The coaches’ views ahead of the game
“Werder Bremen have put in some great performances away from home in recent months,” said Bjelica during his regular press conference on Thursday afternoon. “In addition, they have improved a lot offensively and have also remained stable defensively. It will be a difficult task, but we believe we can show our strengths again in front of our fans and come away with three points at the end.”
His opposite number, Werner, meanwhile had this to say. “Union defend extremely well and don’t concede much. They’ve found their strengths again with set pieces. To win on Saturday, we need a cohesive team performance.”
Service information
As usual, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei opens two hours before kick-off and is sold out in all areas.
The match will be broadcast live on Sky and there will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information about the match via the club’s own live ticker, as well as in English and Spanish on Twitter
