Up against this season’s surprise package | OneFootball

SVW won the reverse fixture 2-1 (Photo: W.DE).

Preview of the home game against 1. FSV Mainz 05

SV Werder Bremen and 1. FSV Mainz 05 will kick off matchday 20 in the Bundesliga on Friday, 31st January (20:30 CET) at the Weserstadion. The Green-Whites are looking for their first win of the second half of the season against a strong visiting side.

The squad: Keke Topp, Felix Agu and Julian Malatini (calf muscle problem) remain unavailable, as well as Oliver Burke (knee) and Jens Stage (five yellow cards).

Ole Werner on the opposition: “They had a good second half of last season under their current coach and have continued that again in 2024/25. They are one of the league’s surprise packages, along with us. I’m expecting a great game. We know what we’re capable of at home and we want our first win of the year.”

Aiming for a first victory in 2025

Derrick Köhn scored the winning goal the last time the two teams met (Photo: W.DE).

Previous meetings: SVW have won 19 of the 38 meetings between the two sides, with seven matches ending in a draw and the 05ers victorious on 12 occasions. Despite having a man sent off, Werder won the reverse fixture 2-1 thanks to debutant Derrick Köhn’s goal. It was Ole Werner’s side’s first victory of the 2024/25 season – can they now get their first win in the second half of the campaign against the same opposition?

Crosses could be key: SVW have scored 11 goals from crosses from open play, a league high. Every 17th cross on average by a Werder man has ended in a goal. Opponents Mainz have also had success in this regard, netting eight times in this fashion (3rd most in the league).