Werder Bremen vs Borussia Dortmund

Weserstadion is the venue as Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund go head-to-head in a handsomely-looking Bundesliga showdown.

Despite hauling back a halftime deficit in a goal-glutted 2-2 draw at Augsburg on the opening Bundesliga weekend, Werder Bremen couldn’t be happy with the result, knowing they wasted numerous clear-cut chances to build on a 3-1 DFB-Pokal win against Energie Cottbus. Manager Ole Werner urged his side to be ‘more clinical’ in front of goal during the post-game conference, aware that another profligate display would likely extend Werder’s unenviable run of one win across their last 13 league outings in August (D4, L8). Werder’s five most recent matches have seen both teams on the scoresheet, suggesting one goal may not be enough to seal three points for either side. Ominously for ‘Die Werderaner,’ they’ve lost their last three league encounters against Dortmund, failing to find the net on two occasions.

Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund snatched a nervy 2-0 home win against Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday one, courtesy of Jamie Bynoe-Gittens’ scintillating second-half double. It was a perfect way for new manager Nuri Sahin to mark his touchline debut in the Bundesliga following an emphatic 4-1 DFB-Pokal triumph against lower-league Phoenix Lubeck. Chances are the former Dortmund midfielder will win his first away league game in charge of ‘Die Borussen,’ with the visitors suffering just one loss across their last 11 matches against Werder (W7, D3). But Sahin shouldn’t get ahead of himself, considering Dortmund ended the 2023/24 Bundesliga season with a brace of three-goal margin defeats on the road en route to their lowest finish in nine years.