In the epilogue of the 9th round of the Bundesliga on Sunday, October 28, the Werder Bremen – Bayer Leverkusen will be played. The match will take place on “Weserstadion” starting at 17:00. If they will not lose, the hosts will make a year of invincibility on their own.
The host’s dream of moving back into the European Cups was even more contour after the success of the previous round, 2-0 away from Schalke. Maximilian Eggestein (21 years old) scored decisively in minutes 43 and 46, bringing the 5th success of the current season. With this success, Werder climbed to the third position and enjoyed the best season start in the last 13 years. With 4 goals scored so far, Eggestein is the only midfielder in the last 10 years, who managed this performance after just 8 stages. At 40, Claudio Pizarro scored the last goal for Werder in the championship even against Leverkusen on March 10, 2017. This season, the South American played in 6 games, but failed to score either at least once. In Sunday’s confrontation, Florian Kohfeldt will not be able to count on Bargfrede, Bartels, Johannsson, Kapino, Kauper and Letterer.
On the other hand, the “aspirins” come after the defeat in the Europa League, 2-3 on the Zurich trip. In spite of defeat, he has good chances to evolve in the European Spring, with five points ahead of Group A against Ludogorets and AEK Larnaca. But things are not just as well internally. With only two points scored in the last three stages, Bayer is only 13th and a new European Cup will appear to be a far farther goal. Otherwise, if he fails to score in Sunday’s game, Leverkusen will arrive for the first time since Herrlich took over the technical bank in the summer of 2017 in four consecutive non-victory games. Heiko Herrlich will not be able to count on Aranguiz, Baumgartlinger and Pohjanpalo (injured).
The last direct confrontation, disputed in May, ended undecided, scoring 0-0. It was the third draw in the last five straight games. Three of the last four scored no more than two goals.
Probable teams:
Bremen: Pavlenka – Gebre Selassie, Veljkovic, Moisander, Augustinsson – M. Eggestein, Sahin, Klaassen – Osako, Harnik, Kruse (c)
Leverkusen: Hradecky – Weiser, Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – Kohr, L. Bender (c) – Brandt, Havertz, Volland – Alario
PREDICTION: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.65
