Werder Bremen
They had to hit rock bottom, but Werder Bremen finally seemed to have turned things around.
A few weeks ago they ended their long winless streak, beating bottom club FC Heidenheim 2-0 at home. Not only was it a great victory, but the performance was also impressive. Although the opponent was not the toughest, Bremen was clearly the best.
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Those three points took them out of the bottom two. Werder’s next test was much tougher as they traveled to Union Berlin, and it looked like they were in for a long day at the office as they went down early with a penalty. However, everything changed minutes later when the locals lost by a man.
The greens and whites immediately took control of the process and never let go. Two corner goals after half an hour gave them the lead and, after the break, they suffocated Union by dominating possession. Marco Grull doubled the lead in the 66th minute before youngster Patrice Covic closed the scoring in injury time.
In two games Bremen managed to get out of a hole. Of course, they are far from safe, as a single point separates them from the relegation play-off spot. The good news is that there are three teams behind them and they are also five points ahead of the bottom two.
The club is not going to want to risk anything, so there is still pressure to get another victory. Werder will love their chances against another team in the fight for survival, especially one that had to play in Europe during the week.
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A victory here would not guarantee safety, but it would go a long way toward avoiding a disastrous fall. However, Bremen cannot allow their recent performances to make them arrogant. If they come into the game thinking they can play their game and get another win without a fight, they will have to pay the consequences against a tough Mainz team.
Die Werderaner have the talent and confidence to keep the good times going, especially in front of a passionate Weserstadion. Hey, they are only four points behind their bitter rival Hamburg, and nine points away from a possible European spot.
However, they may worry about that once they are safe from the relegation fight.
team news
Bremen’s availability report is the same as last week, with Mitchell Weiser, Felix Agu, Maximilian Wöber, Amos Pieper, Karim Coulibaly, Victor Boniface, Samuel Mbangula and Jovan Milosevic ruled out for the match.
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Planned lineups
Backhaus, Sugawara, Stark, Friedl, Deman, Puertas, Lynen, Stage, Grull, Njinmah, Schmid
Mainz
It has been an interesting few months for Mainz.
They took off in January, putting together a three-fight winning streak. Then they were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund and since then the 05 has played four games and tied in all of them.
They hosted Mainz, traveled to Bayer Leverkusen and welcomed Stuttgart, and each time they shared the spoils. To be fair, it’s not a bad run of results, as two of those games were against European teams.
Speaking of Europe, that’s the kind of competition Die Karnevalsverein participated in during the week. Not only did they play on Thursday, but they had to travel to the Czech Republic to face Sigma Olomouc in the round of 16 of the UEFA Conference League. It was a close and tense match, in which neither team reached an xG. It was no surprise that the match ended 0-0.
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Again, though, that’s not a bad result. Getting a draw away from home in a two-legged tie is decent, and now all Mainz have to do is take care of business at home next week. But first they will have to travel to Bremen.
Despite how well they have been playing, they are still not free from relegation. They are technically tied for the relegation playoff spot, only ahead of St. Pauli due to goal difference. The good news is that they already lost this weekend, so the 05 have a chance to put some distance between themselves in that race.
Mainz is missing some key players, which we will talk about later, but the team spirit still remains. They are difficult to break and will pounce on any mistake made by the opposition. In matchups like this at the bottom of the table, that is absolutely crucial.
A Carnival Club win here would lead to a Sunday night of partying in the center of town.
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team news
Nadiem Amiri is Mainz’s biggest absence due to injury, but they are also missing players like Stefan Bell, Robin Zentner, Andreas Hanche-Olsen, Maxim Dal, Anthony Caci, Benedict Hollerbach and Silas.
Planned lineups
Batz, da Costa, Posch, Kohr, Widmer, Nebel, Sano, Lee, Mwene, Tietz, Becker