First, of two remaining matches of the week 10 in German Bundesliga will take place at Weser Stadium in Bremen. The home team is coming off from a goalless road draw in Koln and they are still in a search of the first victory of the season. The team that has a very steady defense has had many efficiency problems as attacking segment of the squad has not yet found the right formula for success.
FC Augsburg on the other side is coming off from a second straight home loss, this time against newcomer Hannover 96 (1-2) and it’s obvious that the period of good performances doesn’t exist anymore as they’re winless in last four rounds. Squads’ problems aside, we have a job to do so let’s take a closer look in order to determine a couple of quality outcomes that will get us some green.
SV Werder Bremen vs. FC Augsburg
Three-Way: 1: SV Werder Bremen +160; X: +250 Draw; FC Augsburg +220
Spread 0: SV Werder Bremen -125; FC Augsburg +123
Total +2.5: Over -111; Under +104
SV WERDER BREMEN
As I’ve mentioned above, the Werder Bremen team has still not recorded a win after nine rounds of play in German top-tier soccer league and they’ll try to accomplish that on Sunday against recently unconvincing FC Augsburg team. The Green-shorts had a similar season start last year but managed to avoid the battle for survival after a strong mid season spell. They’re in a desperate need of some kind of a positive result in the league and they might actually have a chance this time having in mind that Wednesday night’ 1:0 win over Hoffenheim in DFB Pokal. The players have proven to themselves that they have what it takes to become a winning team and the confidence should be on a high level.
They are currently ranked at No. 17 spot in the league table with five points in nine games, three points below the relegation line and a 0-5-4 record (0-1-3 at home). Their goal difference is 3-9 (1-6 at Weser) and 89% of their matches had under 2.5 goals while no duel has yet ended with more than 3.5 goals in total. The team from Bremen has most 0:0 games recorded in the league so far (three) as both teams scored in only 25% of their home matchups. They still haven’t scored at least one goal in both halves but they did concede at least one goal in both periods in 11% of their showdowns.
Coach Alexander Nouri prefers the 4-2-3-1 scheme with Gebre Selassie, Sane, Moisander and Augustinsson in the defensive line and Eggestein and Delany operating as defensive midfielders. Bartels, Junuzovic, Kainz, and Belfodil up front have mostly attacking assignments. Three players with one goal scored so far for Bremen are Fin Bartels, Thomas Delaney, and Lamine Sane while no player has yet recorded an assist for the squad. Defenders Ludwig Augustinsson and Robert Bauer have the most success in passing with 280 and 276 total passes recorded while goalie Jiri Pavlenka has 129 shots against, 42 saves (most in the league) and three clean-sheet games at the moment. Most undisciplined players are Bauer, Izet Hajrovic and Florian Kainz with three yellow cards each.
Justin Eilers’s (cruciate ligament) timetable for return is set for the first month of the next year while Eeric Oelschlagel’s (elbow) status is unknown. Jerome Gondorf (shoulder) is listed as doubtful.
FC AUGSBURG
Period of solid performances is obviously behind the FC Augsburg team and this week they’ll have the chance to end their four-game winless streak against one of the drowning teams of the league. The Fuggers are pretty successful on the road this year with a 1-2-1 record and securing another road win would present a big confidence booster before the next week’s home showdown against Bayer Leverkusen. Against Hannover, they started well after Gregoritsch scored an opener to give the home team the lead but second half was a different story as the team obviously took this lead for granted and decided to play defense only. This faulty attitude was well used by the guests and their striker Niklas Fullkrug who scored a swift double to secure the full prey for his squad.
Augsburg is currently ranked 10th in the league table with 12 points in ten games and a 3-3-3 record. They score 1.33 and concede 1.11 goals per match (12-10 goal difference) and 67% of their matches had over 2.5 goals in total while 25% of their home games had over 3.5 goals in total. Augsburg managed to score at least one goal in both halves in 33% of their matchups while they still haven’t conceded a goal in both halves. Both teams scored in 56% of their overall duels.
Head coach Baum prefers the same 4-2-3-1 scheme with Max, Gouweleeuw, Danso, and Opare operating in front of Hitz as defenders. Middle of the field consists of Khedira and Baier as defensive midfielders and Caiuby, Gregoritsch and Schmid as attacking midfielders while Finnbogason operates as a lone striker up front. Alfred Finnbogason tops the team in scoring with four goals so far while Michael Gregoritsch has three in his account. Philipp Max is the leading assister with four while passing segment belongs to Daniel Baier with 294 total passes. Goalkeeper Marvin Hitz has 137 shots against, 30 saves and three clean-sheet games so far while Caiuby and Rami Khedira have two yellow cards recorded which makes them the most undisciplined players in the team.
Sergio Cordova (ankle) should be back in action in a few weeks while Dong-Won Ji’s (muscle), Joannis Gelios’s (back) and Martin Hinteregger’s (ankle) status is unknown. Alfred Finnbogason (groin), Daniel Baier (muscle), Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Backer (Virus), Raphael Framberger (knee), Georg Teigl (back) and Moritz Leitner (ankle) are all listed as doubtful while Marvin Friedrich (muscle) is listed as day to day. Tim Rieder (knee) is back in training.
SV Werder Bremen vs. FC Augsburg – Match Prediction
Last seven matchups between these two foes had over 2.5 goals in total but that should not be the case this time. Werder team is playing very defensively, especially at home, and a 0:0 result is becoming business as usual in Bremen. They also haven’t recorded a home win against Augsburg since February 14th, 2015 (3:2) and last three duels all went the Fuggers way.
Still, having in mind a vast number of injuries in the visiting squad and the fact that Bremen needs to record a victory once, my best guess here is a home team win. Also, under 2.5 goals in total makes a lot of sense. For those who are willing to take a chance, my advice is to go with 1:0 final result in favor of the home team.
My pick: SV Werder Bremen to win (+160)
