Chasing a club record in Sinsheim

admin tarafından yayınlandı

3 March 2024, 13:15 yayınlandı

SVW celebrate their third straight win on their travels in Cologne (Photo: W.DE).

Team news: SV Werder will be without four of their centre-backs, with Marco Friedl (syndesmosis ligament tear), Milos Veljkovic (knee problems), Amos Pieper (rehab after broken ankle) and Niklas Stark (hip problems) all out injured. Midfielder Isak Hansen-Aarøen (muscle strain) will also not travel to Sinsheim. Justin Njinmah is also a doubt for Sunday’s match.

Ole Werner on the opponent: “They have an experienced squad with plenty of international experience at nearly every position and they know their roles extremely well. It’s a good mix of individual quality, power and pace.”

Goals guaranteed – Bittencourt set to face his former side

Previous matches: This will be the 30th time these two sides meet in the Bundesliga, with the history of this fixture featuring some high-scoring affairs. The very first meeting between Werder and Hoffenheim ended in a 5-4 win for the Green-Whites back in 2008/09. TSG were able to come out on top earlier this season, winning 3-2 in Bremen. Jens Stage was able to equalise in the first minute of second-half injury time, before Marius Bülter netted the winner just 87 seconds later. TSG have won eight of the previous 29 encounters, with SVW coming out on top on 11 occasions (D10).

Leo Bittencourt will face his former club in Sinsheim (Photo: W.DE).

Familiar faces: Leonardo Bittencourt will come up against his former employers this weekend, having featured in 22 competitive games for TSG in 2018/19. The midfielder then moved to Bremen in September 2019. Hoffenheim also count two former Green-Whites in their ranks, with Anton Stach and Florian Grillitsch both having run out for SVW.

Expect goals: Both sides have scored nine goals since the turn of the year. Germany U21 striker Maximilian Beier has been in good form in front of goal, most recently netting a brace against Dortmund. Werder have found the back of the net at least once in every game in 2024, and a look at the stats suggests that this weekend could once again be a high-scoring affair. An average of 3.38 goals have been scored per game in this fixture, while the first and only goalless draw between the sides took place nearly 15 years ago, on matchday 23 in 2008/09.