Werder Bremen vs Borussia Dortmund 16/12/20

Out-of-sorts Borussia Dortmund travel to the Weserstadion to take on equally unimpressive Werder Bremen, desperately looking to get back to winning ways in the Bundesliga.

Werder Bremen’s agony in the Bundesliga continues, as a 2-0 away defeat to RB Leipzig last time out now means ‘Die Werderaner’ have gone from five consecutive league draws to three losses in a row. Interestingly, each failure in that three-game sequence saw Werder concede a goal within 30 minutes and lose the first half by a single-goal margin. Also, Florian Kohfeldt’s men have scored precisely one goal per match in their opening five home Bundesliga fixtures to win just one of them (D2, L2). In turn, they have failed to win any of their five previous top-flight H2Hs as hosts (D2, L3). Action before half-time has also been at a premium for Werder in recent times, as three of their last four home league games have featured under 1.5 first-half goals.

Meanwhile, a 5-1 thumping at the hands of Stuttgart last weekend has seen Borussia Dortmund dismiss Lucien Favre, as the visitors head into this clash winless in three Bundesliga fixtures (D1, L2). Away from home, however, ‘Die Borussen’ have gone undefeated in four league matches (W3, D1) since losing 2-0 to Augsburg in their first Bundesliga trip of the season. The ‘clean-sheet’ theme has often been of the utmost importance to Dortmund’s away league results, as three of their four Bundesliga matches won/lost on the road have seen the victor manage a shutout. Given Dortmund’s tremendous attacking potential, it may come as some surprise that they have failed to find the net in the first half in each of their five league trips so far.