Our next opponents Werder Bremen: A team on form

Position

It feels a bit like the old days on the banks of the Weser. With thoughts of Frings, Micoud, Klasnic, Klose. Those players were in the Werder side in 2005 that picked up 19 points from the first eight Bundesliga fixtures. The statisticians have to go back 13 years to find a start to a campaign that tops the 17 points that Werder currently have. The difference: Back then Bremen were in the Champions League every season and almost constantly the main challenger to FC Bayern. In 2018, the North Germans got off to a magnificent start in spite of the previous season where they were involved in a relegation battle for a long time before ending up eleventh in the table. In the summer the declared aim was to finish in the European qualification position this time round. Brave words with substance behind them: After eight games, Bremen are third in the league ahead of the mighty FC Bayern. Surprising? "We don't want to talk ourselves down," said shooting star Maximilian Eggestein (pictured above) ahead of the game against the Werkself.

Personnel

Eggestein is currently something of the face of the Bremen revival. The home-grown youngster has already scored four goals this season and that as a player in central midfield. The 21-year-old recently fired his team to a 2-0 away win at Schalke with a brace thatalso brought him to the attention of Germany coach Joachim Löw. In addition to Eggestein, there are two players in Bremen's midfield whose signings in the summer demonstrate the increased ambition on the Weser: Nuri Sahin, once a key player when Borussia Dortmund first won the league under Jürgen Klopp, plus Davy Klaassen, a Dutch international brought in from Everton. The trio are the showpiece in the team coached by Florian Kohfeldt, but the side also benefits from captain Max Kruse who often moves away from his role as central striker to help launch attacks himself. That means Werder are capable of being flexible up front and they play a very attractive game at times, which is mainly down to the coach Kohfeldt. In contrast to last season, he has succeeded in strengthening the defence: No other team in the league have conceded fewer goals than Werder – no doubt due to the fact that  Kohfeldt, with one exception, has always played the same back four of Augustinsson, Veljkovic, Moisander and Gebre Selassie.

Problems

Away from the defence, Werder are missing individual players in other positions at the moment. Philipp Bargfrede, the more defensive option for Sahin in a holding midfield, suffered a muscle injury ahead of the Schalke game. Kohfeldt was hopeful at the start of the week that the enforcer would be available for the game against the Werkself but it was more than unlikely that he would play the full 90 minutes. The attackers Fin Bartels and Aron Johansson are long-term injuries. As new signing Martin Harnik had to drop out recently, Kohfeldt often makes use of the now 40-year old club legend Claudio Pizarro who has yet to score since his return in the summer. Other attacking players such as Florian Kainz and Yuya Osako have impressed this season but to rarely pose a threat on goal.this

Potential

The years of frugality and modesty appear to be over at Bremen. In the summer, Werder signed big-name players and declared their ambition to qualify for Europe. That demonstrates: The sporting management want to compete at the top of the Bundesliga again after eight seasons in mid-table. The coach Florian Kohfeldt embodies attractive but also successful football – but above all he is an absolute role model as a long-standing Werder Bremen man. The same applies to home-grown talent Maximilian Eggestein and his younger brother Johannes who scored his first Bundesliga goal at the start of the month in the 2-0 win against VfL Wolfsburg. Werder, as in the era under Thomas Schaaf, want to be a force again and as successful as possible. The foundations for that were definitely laid in the summer.

Prediction

The impressive start to the season was anything but a one-hit wonder. Bremen have a very convincing approach and enough alternatives up front to be able to compensate for injuries and suspensions over the course of a long season. It could be a bit tricky if the defensive stalwarts Veljkovic and Moisander are sidelined for a long time. If Werder escape such bad luck in terms of injuries then it appears more than realistic that the eight-year absence from European competition will come to an end this season. One big advantage for Werder: In contrast to many other rivals for a European finish, Bremen are not fighting on three fronts.