Head coach Markus Weinzierl believes the hosts are the clear favourites in Friday evening’s Matchday 23 curtain-raiser in Bremen (kick-off 20:30 CET), but the 44-year-old nevertheless insists his side have a chance of “getting a result as the underdogs”. Looking ahead to the trip to the Weser-Stadion, he said: “It’s possible and sometimes necessary to pull off shocks when you’re battling relegation.”
VfB have certainly proven they can pick up points against Werder, winning the two most recent Bundesliga meetings between the sides, while their last defeat in Bremen was a 1-0 reverse in December 2017. “They’re on a good run, they have good individual players, great fans and they’re still unbeaten this year,” said Weinzierl at his press conference on Wednesday. “The club have made good progress under Frank Baumann and Florian Kohfeldt. They have a clear idea of who they are and how they play.”
Defensive stability, midfield creativity
The VfB boss has called for “more solidity in defence, more creativity in midfield and more composure in our build-up play” from his team. One player who possesses those qualities and “showed them against Leipzig on Saturday” is midfielder Gonzalo Castro, who opened his VfB account with the winning goal in the 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture.
Dennis Aogo returned to full training at the start of the week having recovered from a calf injury, meaning the 32-year-old is another option in midfield alongside the experienced Castro, who made his 372nd Bundesliga outing at the weekend. Timo Baumgartl (concussion) is the only player unavailable to Weinzierl on Friday.