Bundesliga Preview | Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen – Both go in search for first points | OneFootball

Werder Bremen host Bayer Leverkusen at the Weserstadion in the Bundesliga Konferenz on Saturday afternoon with the two clubs looking for their first points of the season. Both clubs are entering new eras with Horst Steffen and Erik ten Hag appointed as head coaches of their respective clubs in the summer.

Steffen’s Bremen come into this game following a 4-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt, although Justin Njinmah is already off the mark for the hosts this season. After losing Robin Zetterer to Eintracht, Arsenal’s Karl Hein could start in goal for Bremen, although Mio Backhaus could retain his place as the former finds his feet at his new club. As well as Hein, Bremen have also added Yukinari Sugawara and Isaac Schmidt to their squad following last weekend’s defeat in Frankfurt.

As for Leverkusen, they got off to a positive start last weekend with Jarell Quansah opening the scoring for his new club after six minutes, but goals from Fisnik Asllani and Tim Lemperle secured an impressive win for Hoffenheim against Ten Hag’s side. It was a worrying performance as Bayer 04 failed to gain a foothold in the game despite only two outfield debutants starting.

Travelling fans will certainly want to see an improvement from last weekend. Ten Hag spoke of wanting to play high-intensity attacking football, but that wasn’t on show. The Dutchman knows that Leverkusen didn’t play to the level that they are capable of, and called for an improvement against Bremen on Saturday: “We didn’t play to the level we know we can in the opening game, and this is what we want to achieve tomorrow, to win in Bremen.”

Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen Team News

Bremen have a minor injury crisis to deal with. Summer arrival Maximilian Wöber is sidelined, alongside defensive counterparts Julian Malatani, Olivier Deman, Marco Friedl, Mitchell Weiser and Amos Pieper. That could mean a start for Karim Coulibaly alongside Niklas Stark in central defence, while Yukinari Sugawara – a loan signing from Southampton – should also make his debut.

As for Bayer Leverkusen, Martin Terrier is out and summer signings Malik Tillman and Loic Bade are doubts. Exequiel Palacios also faces a race to be fit, although there could be a first start for Claudio Echeverri, who made a brief appearance against Hoffenheim last weekend. Ten Hag did state that new arrival Lucas Vázquez wasn’t fit enough to start, meaning Arthur would retain his place at right-wing-back.

How to Watch Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen – Date and Stream

Werder Bremen host Bayer Leverkusen at the Weserstadion on Saturday 30 August. Kick-off is at 15:30 local time and is available to stream on Bet365 in the UK.

GGFN | Daniel Pinder