Looking to start a new streak

Team news: Werder’s head coach has to do without three players against TSG. Milos Veljkovic remains sidelined with a foot problem, while Justin Njinmah misses out with an ankle ligament injury. Captain Marco Friedl also still has one match of his ban to serve after being sent off against Mainz.

Werner on the opposition: “Hoffenheim are a side with a lot of quality and are really good at working the ball around. I feel like they have struggled during periods in their recent games, but could easily have picked up more points. They played really well against a top side like Bayer Leverkusen and were arguably the better team for much of the game.”

Goals galore or 1-1?

Skelly Alvero high-fives Justin Njinmah.

Alvero’s late goal wasn’t enough for a point last time (photo: W.DE)

Recent meetings: SVW have the edge in the head-to-head against TSG. Bremen have won 11 times in the 30 meetings to date, with nine Hoffenheim wins and 10 draws. However, the Kraichgau club have won each of the last three clashes, including a 2-1 win last time, with Skelly Alvero’s stoppage-time goal coming too late to salvage a point. Werder’s most recent victory in Sinsheim was back in the 2022/23 season, with Marvin Ducksch and Niclas Füllkrug on the scoresheet for the Green-Whites.

Rarely boring: Despite the most common result in this fixture being a 1-1 draw (7 times), there has been an average of a whopping 3.4 goals per game. TSG were 5-3 winners back in 2017, while another eight-goal thriller ended 3-3 in Sinsheim in 2013. The very first top-flight meeting between the sides in 2008 was a memorable one for SVW fans, with Werder securing a dramatic 5-4 victory.