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It’s finally time for football again! After a quiet holiday season and half a transfer window, BVB is back in action this weekend. The black and yellows take on Bremen for their first game of the half season. As they didn’t face Werder in the fall, this will be the first game they play against Werder this season.
Lookin at the lineup, things are looking iffy in regards to personnel. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will not be available as he is still at AFCON. Sven Bender, Sebastian Rode, Nuri Sahin, Neven Subotic and Emre Mor look to be ruled out while Ousmane Dembele and Sokratis being ruled questionable for the game. The predicted line up from BVB social is shown below.
So könnten sie spielen // This is how they might line-up for tomorrow’s #svwbvb pic.twitter.com/4MKnEc0rij
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) January 20, 2017
That is not a superb or desirable lineup. Schurrle as striker is expected but out of a five man midfield only two can handle any defensive responsibilities. And those two, Castro and Weigl, aren’t exactly brick walls. Ginter needs more minutes at center back so its good to see him there and if Sokratis is healthy that’s a huge boost for BVB. Weidenfeller is still in goal for this game but Manager Thomas Tuchel says that Roman Burki should play in the friendly on Sunday and will probably be available for the game against Mainz next week.
Werder Bremen are near the bottom of the table in the Bundesliga, only picking up 16 points so far this season. They also currently have the worst defensive record in the league giving up 34 goals in total. Not too good at this level of football.
The biggest threat on Werder is Serge Gnarbry. The German youngster had a great summer playing for his native country’s Olympic team and has carried that momentum to the the season. He has seven goals so far and will easily prove to be the biggest threat to us this game. Also, somehow, Claudio Pizarro is still playing football at the highest level. He’s done well against Dortmund in the past, but he aging fast and hasn’t scored a goal this season.
What are your predictions for the match? Let us know in the comments.