Bundesliga Match Preview: Borussia Dortmund Host Werder Bremen on Friday Night

Get ready to devise an excuse to leave work early, because it’s time for another Friday night game.

It was a busy international window, especially for the many members of the BVB squad who are on the German national team. Mats Hummels, Julian Brandt, and Niklas Süle played multiple matches across the Atlantic and were rushed back on a private plane prior to tomorrow’s match. Germany’s trip to North America has received substantial criticism in Germany, including from Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel, but it’s BVB who appear to be most affected with a poorly-timed Friday night match to kick off the Bundesliga’s return.

Dortmund’s opponent, Werder Bremen, have gotten off to a not-so-great start with five defeats in seven games, although two wins have been enough to stay out of the relegation zone for now.

Unfortunately, Werder have been a bogey-team against Borussia Dortmund for a long time, so I don’t necessarily expect this to be easy.

Player to Watch: Marvin Ducksch

Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Look at that, it’s a BVB alum! The Duck-meister (is he called that?) has had a very respectable start to the Bundesliga season, with two goals and three assists so far in the season, continuing his hot form from last season, in which he racked up a very impressive 12 goals and 6 assists in almost 3,000 minutes. With Werder losing Niclas Füllkrug to Dortmund, they desperately needed another source of goals, and so far Ducksch has helped to fill the gap. He’s a total workhorse who can finish from just about anywhere, making him slightly similar in profile to his former teammate, Niclas Füllkrug.

Predicted Lineup

Edin Terzic has a mostly healthy squad to work with, although Youssoufa Moukoko and Julien Duranville are two notable exceptions. Niclas Füllkrug has fit in seamlessly in Dortmund and has deservedly snatched the starting striker spot from Sebastien Haller, who appears to be battling fitness issues. Meanwhile, Donyell Malen has been Dortmund’s other most consistent threat on the wing, while Gio Reyna had a fantastic window with the U.S. Men’s National Team. While Gio’s best position might be in central midfield, I think Terzic should at least try him out on the wing, with both Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Karim Adeyemi struggling mightily, while Julian Brandt can play as an attacking midfielder.

On the back line, while I’m a little concerned with Niklas Süle’s lack of playing time, I do think that Mats Hummels has been too good to drop lately. I hope that Terzic finds a way to give the big center back more playing time, because I’m worried that he might become discontented on the bench, and by the time Hummels is ready to hang up his boots, Süle could be long gone.

Score Prediction

I’m going to play with fire and predict a 2-1 BVB win, with both Füllkrug scoring and celebrating so hard against his former team that it starts a fight.