In this article, we have prepared for you an in-depth analysis of one of the last two matchups in week 3 of German Bundesliga that will take place on Sunday in Berlin between host Hertha BSC and SV Werder Bremen.
The team from German capital Hertha BSC will play their second home game of the season on Sunday against the squad that hasn’t scored a goal yet while conceding three in two matchups that they’ve lost and are desperately in a search of some kind of positive result. The Blue Whites are also starting the UEFA Europa League group stage play during the next week with a home soil showdown against Athletic Bilbao and they’ll definitely have their mind a bit set in this game too.
A busy period of national and international team competitions starts from this weekend and there will be many teams that can be considered as a collateral damage meaning that they won’t be able to successfully fight on two or more battle fronts. This means that we shall have more choices and more opportunities to select some quality picks in order to get some more green into your pockets.
Hertha BSC vs. SV Werder Bremen
Three-Way: 1: Hertha BSC +114; X: +265 Draw; SV Werder Bremen +309
Spread -0.5: Hertha BSC +106; Werder Bremen -109
Total +2.5: Over +104; Under +104
HERTHA BSC
It looks like the Hertha BSC team continues the last season’ trend as a home-team type of squad. As a reminder, the Grand Dame (nickname for Hertha BSC team) posted a 12-1-4 record at home and 3-3-11 record on the road last year earning over 75% of their total points at Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The start of 2017 season looks similar as they managed to defeat Stuttgart in a season opener at home, 2:0 (M. Leckie scored both goals) and then easily got beaten in Dortmund by Borussia (final result was 2:0). The team will also appear in the UEFA Europa League group stage during next midweek as they face Spanish side Athletic Bilbao in Berlin. Besides Spaniards, Ukranian side Zorya Luhansk and Swedish representative Ostersund are two other teams that will compete in Group J of this competition.
Pal Dardai’s team was completely outplayed in the last national competition match up against Borussia Dortmund at Westfallen and the data that they held the ball in their possession for only 37% of the game time speaks volumes. Dortmund recorded 26 total shots towards Hertha’s goal while visitors from Berlin recorded 11. Rune Jarstein started the game at a goalkeeper position while Sebastian Labgekamp and Karim Rekik operated in front of him as central defenders. Right and left back positions was filled by M. Wieser and M. Plattenhardt while P. Skjelbred and N. Stark started at the defensive midfielder position behind M. Leckie, V. Darida and S. Kalou who were more orientated toward attack. Bosnian national Vedad Ibisevic started at the centre-forward position but substituted after 58 minutes of play along with Salomon Kalou. A. Esswein and G. Haraguchi entered the play instead of them. Niklas Stark recorded two shots towards Dortmund’s keeper Roma Burki and presented the biggest threat to his goal while passing segment belonged to Sebastian Langekamp who recorded 80.0% passing accuracy in 30 pass attempts.
Jonathan Klinsmann (ankle) should be available in a few weeks while Per Ciljan Skjelbred (cold) is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s matchup. Julius Kade (muscle) and Davie Selke (toe) are day to day while Valentin Lazaro (ankle) should be back in circulation in few days. Dennis Smarsch’s (cruciate ligament) status is unknown while Julian Schieber (knee) is back in training and should be available for the upcoming showdown.
SV WERDER BREMEN
The SV Werder Bremen is one of three teams that don’t have any points earned after first two weeks of play in German Bundesliga. They also have the worse goal-difference in the league (zero scored, three conceded goals) that puts them on the bottom of the league table at the moment. Still, we have to be fair and acknowledge that the schedule was not leaned towards the Greens (teams’ nickname) as they faced last season’s top performers, TSG Hoffenheim 1899 (1:0 loss) on the road in the season opener and defending champions Bayern Munich in the home field opener of the year (2:0 loss). Hopefully, coach Nouri managed to regroup the squad during the international break and remedy some of the issues that led to two defeats and no goals scored in first two rounds.
Against Bayern, Jiri Pavlenka started the game as a goalie while the five-man defensive line consisted of T. Gebre Selassie, R. Bauer, L. Sane, M. Veljkovic and L. Augustinsson. In front of them operated team captain T. Delaney, M. Eggstein and J. Gondorf while centre-forward positions were occupied by M. Kruse and F. Bartels. This obviously over-defensive formation worked in the first three-quarters of the game as Werder managed to keep its sheet clean but a three-minute blitzkrieg by Bavarians that occurred between 72nd and 75th minute of the game destroyed Werder’s defense and allowed Robert Lewandowski to score two goals that were enough for the visitors to record another win. Nouri tried with couples of substitutions like J. Egestein, F. Kainz and P. Bargfrede to salvage the game but Bayern’s team appeared to be experienced enough to hold the advantage and firmly end the game in their advantage. The match stats show the visiting team dominance as they held the ball in their possession in 68% of the game time and recorded 27 total shots towards opponents’ goal oppose to only five by the home team. Max Kruse and Jerome Gondorf threatened Neuer with one shot towards goal each while passing segment belonged to M. Eggestein and F. Kainz who had 91.3% and 83.3% of passes completed.
There is a couple of players on Werder’s roster with long injury related absences. Zlatko Junuzovic (Achilles tendon) should be back in late September while Niklas Moisander (thigh) is expected to be out until at least early October. Eric Oelschlagel (elbow) should be back in a few weeks while Justin Eilers (cruciate ligament) is out until January 2018. Milos Veljkovic (calf) is listed as doubtful for Sunday.
Hertha BSC vs. SV Werder Bremen – Match Prediction
Werder Bremen is one of the three teams that recorded two wins in both matchups last season against Hertha BSC (along with Hoffenheim and Leipzig). First home loss of the season for the team from the capital was brought by Werder (0:1, Max Kruse in 41st minute) and duel in Bremen went even smoother for the Greens (2:0, Fin Bartels in the 18th minute, Max Kruse in the 15th minute).
The tradition says that the guests can be very troublesome for the home team to cope with and I also think that Werder is not the team that will go 0-0-3 after first three rounds. A draw makes the most sense but if you’re willing to take a chance a guest team win here could be the potential pick of round 3.
My pick: Draw (+265)
Additional Pick: Double chance x2 Werder Bremen (-110)
