Bundesliga – Match Preview: Hannover 96 versus Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen are all set to take on Hannover 96 in their fifth league match of the season. For both the teams, the current 2010-2011 season has not gotten off on the right foot and thus this match comes at a good time, giving
both the sides an opportunity to set things right for themselves. Bremen were superb last season as they finished third in the Bundesliga season but since then hardly anything has gone right for the men in orange and green.
Bremen’s season started off pretty early in the summer as they had to qualify for the UEFA Champions’ League group stages through the competitions usual pre-group-stage qualification rounds. In the qualification rounds, Bremen
were pitted against the mercurial Italian club, Sampdoria, in what can be termed as Bremen’s most thrilling match of the season, Werder came out as eventual winners but it wasn’t as easy as it sounds on paper. In the second leg of the encounter, after going
two goals down to Sampdoria at the Italian club’s home ground in Genoa, Werder Bremen pulled one back but then conceded another one to give their opponents a three goals to one lead.
With the score line at 3-1, Bremen had a fighting chance as the match was forced into extra time. However the script was duly written off by Claudio Pizzaro who have a superstar performance for his club side and scored in extra
time to give Bremen a win on an aggregate score line. Despite losing the match 3-1, Bremen proceeded to the next round of the UEFA Champions League. In their first league match of the season, Bremen lost 4-1 to Hoffenheim and then went onto win 4-2 against
F.C Koln in their second match of the Bundesliga season.
After that, they only managed to draw against Tottenham in their first UEFA Champions’ League group stage match of the 2010-2011 season, a match where Werder Bremen showed great character after going two goals down to bring the
score line back to two all. It was a memorable point for Bremen, who have not had a bright history in European club cup competitions. In the two of their most recent Bundesliga matches, Bremen drew against the German champions Bayern Munich and only managed
to lose their last match against FSV Mainz 05.
Currently, Bremen are 11th in the Bundesliga tables with only four points from a total number of four league matches. It has not been a vintage start for the German giants but a win against Hannover will do very nicely
for them. On the other hand, Bremen’s opponents, Hannover finished 15th in last season’s Bundesliga season and this time they will be trying hard to break through into the top ten teams in the German first division league.
Hannover have played four matches in the Bundesliga so far this season, so the match against Bremen will be their fifth of the season as far as league football is concerned. Hannover 96 won their first league match of the season
against Frankfurt by a margin of a single goal, in their second match of the season against FC Schalke 04, ended up on the losing side of the equation as Schalke won by two goals to one. In their last two matches against Wolfsburg and Leverkusen, Hannover
failed to register a victory in either as Wolfsburg won by two goals to nil and Leverkusen got a two all draw against the team which was found in 1896.
Out of the past eight meetings between both the German league clubs, Hannover have only won a single one while two have ended in a draw and the rest have all resulted in wins for Werder Bremen. Given that it is the start of the
German football league season, one can expect a certain level of rustiness from the likes of Werder Bremen, nonetheless, they are expected to win against Hannover 96 due to their superior squad strength and attacking capability.
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