Werder Bremen vs FC Augsburg preview: Die Werderaner aim to bounce back from heartbreak | OneFootball

Werder Bremen

Werder Bremen went into the winter break on a wonderful run of form, but they’ve had two tough results following their return from holiday.

First was an away day to RB Leipzig, where Bremen actually played quite well, but were done in by defensive mistakes and moments of brilliance from the oppositions. Xavi Simons grabbed a brace thanks to some lackluster marking, and then Benjamin Sesko slammed a rocket of a shot into the back of the net.

Although Werder themselves scored a brilliant team goal, they couldn’t climb out of the two-goal margin they dug themselves, and they ultimately lost 4-2. While they had a solid showing, they still came away from the Red Bull Arena with nothing.

Bremen returned home on Wednesday night, where they faced relegation candidates FC Heidenheim. This was a much more frustrating performance, especially at the back. The hosts took the lead on three separate occasions, but each time they gave up an equalizer, including one final one in the 95th minute.

While the referee himself had a bad day at the office, the Green-Whites still had to hold a fair share of the blame for their late collapse. They couldn’t hold on to the ball to save their lives, and they were both wasteful and reckless in possession.

Despite these results, they’re still in the thick of the European race. Werder go into the weekend four points off of the top four, and just a single point behind 7th place Wolfsburg. However, if they want to feel like true challengers for a Europa League or Conference League bid, they’ll have to win games like this one on Sunday.

Team NewsBremen will welcome the return of captain Marco Friedl from suspension, but they will now be without starting defensive midfielder Senne Lynen thanks to yellow card accumulation. They also have two long-term injury concerns, as Felix Agu and Keke Topp will miss out once again.

FC Augsburg

For FC Augsburg, this has felt like a very standard season. They haven’t managed to crack into the upper reaches of the standings, but they also don’t have to legitimately worry about relegation at the moment.

Die Fuggerstädter have had a better time of things this month. They did lose at home to VfB Stuttgart at home, but that was a close contest against a very talented side.

Their big result came during the week. Augsburg travelled to the capital city to take on Union Berlin, and they defeated their fellow lower-midtable rival 2-0 at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Alexis Claude grabbed a brace in the opening half-hour, and then his defense limited the opposition, ultimately holding on to a clean sheet that secured the win and three vital points.

There’s still plenty of time to go in this campaign, so you can’t completely rule out a push up the table from Augsburg. They sit seven points behind their opponents on Sunday, which means that the victory would bring them within striking distance of Europe. This is a club that seemingly refuses to go away, so expect to see plenty of fighting spirit from them here and in the future.

Team newsAugsburg have been bit harder by the injury bug, as the likes of Keven Schlotterbeck, Mads Valentin Pedersen, Masaya Okugawa, Reece Oxford, Robert Gumny, and Yusuf Kabadayi are all unavailable through injury. Frank Onyeka will also miss out because of a suspension, just to make things a little worse for them.