Match Preview: Borussia Dortmund hosts Werder Bremen

Borussia Dortmund Official Training & Press Conference - 2017 International Champions Cup ChinaBorussia Dortmund head coach Peter Bosz will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes when they host a struggling Werder Bremen this weekend. Following a disappointing group stage campaign in the Champions League which saw further humiliation in midweek as the Black and Yellows slumped to a 3:2 defeat against Real Madrid, the confidence in the Dortmund will be rock bottom going into this game.

However, considering their recent crisis, Werder Bremen may just be the perfect team to face. The northern giants have been one of the scrappiest teams in the Bundesliga for quite some time now, often ending up in the wrong end of the table in recent years.

This season has been no exception as die grunweissen currently stand 17th in the Bundesliga table with just eleven points on the board. Although the Green and Whites share a rather decent record after the sacking of Alexander Nouri at the back end of October. They have won two out of their four league games; so the pressure will definitely be high.

Head coach Florian Kohfeldt will be aware of his side's liabilities going into this game. The highly rated offensive line of Werder Bremen has flopped big time this season with players like Aron Johannsson and Ishak Belfodil failing to deliver.

The early injury woes of star striker Max Kruse on Werder's overall offensive stats as they have the league's second-lowest conversion rate(3%). Only bottom club Koln(still winless after 14 games this season) have managed less(2.8%).

On the flip side, however, Peter Bosz's Borussia Dortmund acquire some very impressive statistics, offensively. The Black and Yellows have the best conversion rate in the league(14.9%) as well as having the second most shots in the league(144).

Borussia Dortmund has had many problems this season but the attack hasn't been one of them. In fact, it's quite the opposite. After Gladbach, the Ruhr giants have the leakiest defence in the top half of the table with 21 goals conceded after 14 matches.

Team News

Borussia Dortmund head coach Peter Bosz will have a host of absentees due to injuries. Starting with defence, Marc Bartra picked up a groin injury during the midweek clash against Real Madrid. He is doubtful to start vs Bremen this weekend.

Veteran defender Lukasz Piszczek remain out injured with a knee problem while Erik Durm is also out for an undefined period of time.

Borussia Dortmund v FC Bayern Muenchen - BundesligaIn attack, German superstar Marco Reus and Mario Gotze are both expected to return no earlier than next year. Furthermore, promising winger Maximilian Philipp also endured a knock during the game against Leverkusen last week and is ruled for several months

Elsewhere, Gonzalo Castro and Sebastian Rode will miss out the clash due to their respective long-term injuries.

As for Werder Bremen, they will miss out on the services of strikers Yuning Zhang and Aron Johannson. Defenders Luca Caldirola and Ulisses Garcia will be the other absentees for Bremen along with winger Justin Eilers, who has been out since March.

Predicted Lineups

Borussia Dortmund(3-4-3 formation): Roman Burki; Sokratis, Neven Subotic, Marcel Schmelzer: Jeremy Toljan, Julian Weigl, Nuri Sahin, Raphael Guerreiro; Andriy Yarmolenko, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Christian Pulisic.

Werder Bremen(4-3-3 formation): Jiri Pavlenka; Theodore-Gebre Selassie, Milos Veljkovic, Niklas Moisander, Ludwig Augustinsson; Maxi Eggestein, Philipp Bargfrede, Thomas Delaney; Fin Bartels, Max Kruse, Zlatko Junuzovic.

Prediction

Borussia Dortmund 2:1 Werder Bremen