An incredibly important battle between 17th and 18th.
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Werder Bremen
It feels like Werder Bremen hit rock bottom this past weekend, but unfortunately things can still get worse.
In their biggest game of the season so far, Bremen were once again beaten, this time away to regional and relegation rivals St. Pauli. It was a gloomy and rainy afternoon.
Werder were the better side in the first half, but they failed to take advantage of the chances they created. That cost them early in the second half, as Mio Backhaus somehow let a weak ball slip past him and into the back of the net.
The Green-Whites did respond, equalizing through loanee Jovan Milosevic after a scramble in the box. However, they went down again only eight minutes later due to some poor defending.
There was plenty of time for the away side to grab another equalizer and at least salvage a point from the contest. They did almost nothing with it. Pauli pressed them high and forced turnovers, and even when the ball was in the final third, the result was a cross that didn’t danger at all.
Just like that Bremen were beaten, and they were now in an automatic relegation spot. As things stand there are three teams fighting for effectively one and a half spots. Wolfsburg and Pauli are tied on 20 points, with the former in 16th due to goal differential. They’re completely safe, and the latter take up the relegation-playoff position.
That leaves Werder on 19 points in 17th place. It’s the first time they have been in the bottom two in a very long time, and it’s an incredibly scary situation to be in. No one can be surprised, to be fair, as their winless run has been extended to a remarkable 13 matches. You can’t survive in this league playing like that.
The only silver lining is that they have plenty of time left to save themselves. Die Werderaner have 11 games left to go this campaign, and their upcoming run of fixtures is kinder compared to previous stretches. They only have one top-four opposition to worry about in their next seven matches. It won’t be easy, but there will be opportunities to pick up points.
It will likely have to start this Saturday. While Heidenheim has looked better, they’re still at the bottom of the Bundesliga standings. There literally isn’t anyone in a worse spot than them, and Bremen will be in front of a rocking home crowd at the Weserstadion.
If you can’t win this one, who knows if you’ll ever win again.
Team news
Werder were dealt yet another blow on the injury front as star signing Samuel Mbangula picked up a knock in training and will miss out. He joins Mitchell Weiser, Felix Agu, Maximilian Wöber, Amos Pieper, Karim Coulibaly, and Victor Boniface on the sidelines, while the likes of Keke Topp, Niklas Stark, and Isaac Schmidt are currently questionable for the contest.
Predicted lineups
Backhaus, Sugawara, Stark, Friedl, Deman, Stage, Lynen, Puertas, Schmid, Milosevic, Grull
FC Heidenheim
A few weeks ago FC Heidenheim seemed destined for the drop, but they now come into this weekend with a genuine sense of belief that a great escape is potentially on the cards.
They recently had a solid showing away to Borussia Dortmund, and would have gotten at least a point if they didn’t shoot themselves in the foot on both ends of the pitch. Then they were narrowly beaten on the road against Augsburg, just falling to an Alexis Claude penalty.
The real signs of promise came last weekend. Up against a very talented VfB Stuttgart side at home, Heidenheim picked up a big point, and could’ve had all three. Despite going down 1-0 early on, the hosts grabbed two goals of their own in short succession. The lead did not last until half, though, thanks to yet another penalty kick.
FCH came so close to winning it, jumping in front with about 10 minutes to go after a goal from Sirlord Conteh. However, their hearts were broken a bit as Deniz Undav rifled home in the final few moments to secure a wild 3-3 draw. Still, a point was better than the zero fans would’ve expected.
Fortunately for Heidenheim, their situation is not that dire. They go into this massive matchup five points behind Bremen, and only six behind the aforementioned St. Pauli and Wolfsburg. That seems like a decent gap, but at this end of the table, they know that only a few wins are needed to make the jump. Those sides haven’t shown many signs of going on a run themselves, either.
They’ve recently gotten some help, and that man will have even more eyes on him this weekend. A few years ago Eren Dinkci was loaned out by Bremen to Heidenheim, and he blossomed into a star that season. He even scored against his parent club during that spell.
Some thought it’d set the stage for Dinkci to become a true Werder talent the following campaign. Instead, he was happy to make the move away, and when Freiburg activated his release clause a deal was done quickly. The winger hasn’t broken through there, though, so he was loaned back to Heidenheim in January. He scored last weekend, and he’ll be raring to score another this time around.
He could very well be the man to sink his boyhood club, and become a savior for FCH at the same time.
Team news
Heidenheim will be missing a few key names, those being Marnon-Thomas Busch, Leart Paqarada, and Leonidas Stergiou.
Predicted lineups
Ramaj, Mainka, Gimber, Siersleben, Ibrahimovic, Niehues, Traore, Behrens, Dinkci, Pieringer, Conteh
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