Hoffenheim vs Werder Bremen preview: Two teams with very different aspirations

Die Kraichgauer will like their chances of a late-season rise, but they know they cannot afford to drop any more points. If they play to the level they know they can, then the team should be absolutely fine. However, a bad day at the office could not only cost them this weekend, but it could cost them their entire campaign.

Pressure makes diamonds. 

Team news

Things aren’t too bad on the injury front for Hoffenheim, as their absences are Kelven Frees, Koki Machida, and Valentin Gendrey.

Predicted lineups

Baumann, Coufal, Kabak, Hajdari, Bernardo, Burger, Avdullaho, Kramaric, Asllani, Toure, Lemperle

Werder Bremen

While Werder Bremen didn’t help themselves last weekend, they did get assistance elsewhere. 

Bremen hosted Augsburg, and it was exactly what you would’ve expected from the contest. The visitors sat back, absorbed pressure, and hit on the counter. They opened the scoring through Anton Kade midway through the half before he nothced a second right before the break.

To Werder’s credit, they made a few massive changes and took control of proceedings, creating chance after chance. Finally, after 20 minutes, Romano Schmid halved the deficit. They had all the momentum and plenty of time. Five minutes later Augsburg scored again to restore their advantage. That was the day done.

That meant the Green-Whites were still in the relegation picture, but results the next day all but secured safety for them. First St. Pauli were beaten at home by Mainz, and then Wolfsburg were held to a draw away to Freiburg. That made the picture clear.

Bremen are in 15th, the last completely safe position in the table. Meanwhile, St. Pauli and Wolfsburg are both six points behind with two games to go, and they play each other on the final day. That means Werder only needs a single point to officially secure safety, or to have both teams fail to win each of their last two. Even if that happens with Pauli they’ll have to overcome a decent goal differential difference. 

So, Die Werderaner will likely have their fates sealed this weekend no matter what happens in their game, but their aim is still going to be clinching survival themselves. It will be a tough ask, as Hoffenheim might be their biggest bogey team. They’ve only beaten them once since the pandemic. 

History is made to be broken, though, and knowing how strange this Bremen season has been, don’t be stunned if they manage to steal some sort of result.

Team news

Werder will be without the likes of Karl Hein, Keke Topp, Mitchell Weiser, Julian Malatini, and Leonardo Bittencourt, while Felix Agu and Marco Friedl are doubts for the contest. 

Predicted lineups

Backhaus, Sugawara, Pieper, Coulibaly, Deman, Puertas, Lynen, Stage, Schmid, Njinmah, Grull