Our next opponents: DSC hoping for Voglsammer's return

Position

The international break may have come at exactly the right time for Arminia. After an impressive start with four points from the first two Bundesliga matches – after an absence of eleven years – the newly promoted team have struggled recently. Bielefeld have lost five games in succession with the latest a 5-0 defeat at Union Berlin. "We have to do things differently and we'll discuss it internally," said sporting director Samir Arabi after the game. Arminia kept their international players in Bielefeld during the break and were able to work hard on team tactics. A friendly against second division Eintracht Braunschweig had to be called off at short notice due to Covid-19 infections amongst the opponents.

Otherwise, it remains mainly calm in East Westphalia. Doom-mongering or doing something just for the sake of it are alien to the management – they know where they've come from. At the end of the day, the once famous club have gone through difficult times and in 2015 they were even in the third division. And, in spite of their imperious promotion run last season, they are well aware of their role as rank outsiders in the top-flight. Even though results have been hard to come by recently: Arminia are currently above the drop zone in fifteenth place. A finish that probably everybody at the club would sign up for.

Personnel

Bielefeld marched through the second division in the promotion season with an attacking 4-3-3 system. Coach Uwe Neuhaus actually favours this formation in the top-flight but recently against top teams with stronger attacks, such as FC Bayern or Borussia Dortmund, he has opted for a more defensive approach and he even fielded a back five against BVB. The fact that Bielefeld – in contrast to last year when their attack was working overtime – are now rarely playing attacking football obviously has something to do with the increased quality of the opposition.

Perhaps it is also due in part to the absence of an attacking factor in the middle. Striker Andreas Voglsammer, who formed a fine partnership with skipper Fabian Klos in the second division, has not played a single game this season due to a hairline fracture in his foot before the start of the campaign. That could change against the Werkself. The physically strong striker is back in full training and he was supposed to play in the friendly against Eintracht Braunschweig. A start against the Werkself would be very surprising after months on the sidelines but he could be in the squad for the first time this season. "If I can stay stable mentally then there's nothing against being available as an option as things stands," he recently said in an interview with Kicker. The 28-year-old could be of great value to Neuhaus as a super sub.

Performers

Apart from the game against Union Berlin, the Arminia defence has done a very good job up to now. Even strong attacks such as Borussia Dortmund's have struggled against a consistently disciplined back line that closes down the middle. The two central defenders Amos Pieper and Mike van der Hoorn are both in the top ten rankings of the best tacklers in the league, which is led by Werkself enforcer Julian Baumgartlinger. In front of Pieper and van der Hoorn is holding midfielder Manuel Prietl, an enormously important stabilising factor, who has a high quality teammate alongside him in Hertha loanee Arne Maier. And Bielefeld are also very strong behind the central defence: Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega has saved the most clear-cut chances in the league to date. This defence can make like difficult for any attack.

ProblemS

Since promotion, the main worry has been up front. Arminia have only scored four goals so far, the least in the league. Centre forward Klos, the reigning top scorer in the second division, is still waiting for his first goal of the season – and for his partner Voglsammer. Perhaps he will bring back the penetration and clinical finishing in attack that Bielefeld have been missing. Arminia are the only team in the Bundesliga yet to score from a set piece and they have also failed to score in the first 45 minutes.

Prediction

After the international break, for Bielefeld it is now all about quickly getting back to the form the team showed at the start of the season. They impressively demonstrated they have the quality to stay up. If the return of Voglsammer also restores the attacking strength of the second division days then that should be enough to achieve that target.