Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen prediction: GERMANY: Bundesliga betting tips on match 2023-03-11 16:30.
Promoted Werder Bremen have seen their early-season European aspirations fall away after winning just three of their last ten Bundesliga matches (L7). Their latest setback was a 2-1 defeat to Augsburg where Die Werderaner netted just once despite a tally of 2.16 xG (expected goals), which prompted defender Marco Friedl to admit that Bremen “caused their own downfall”.
When you combine wastefulness in front of goal with the fact only two sides have conceded more goals (43) and kept fewer clean sheets (four) than Bremen ahead of this round, boss Ole Werner has some problems to solve. Werner will hope a return to home comforts can inspire a change in fortune, and this is a fixture that gives them a good chance considering their historical dominance on their own turf against Bayer Leverkusen (W19, D19, L7).
Xabi Alonso’s men prepared for their trip to Bremen with a comfortable 2-0 win over Ferencváros in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) last 16. The Spaniard described that performance as “not spectacular, but good”, which somewhat encapsulates an indifferent season for Die Werkself given a win here would be their third in succession for just the second time this season.
Unless Leverkusen go on to do the unthinkable and win the UEL, returning to the European stage now depends on finding consistency in the Bundesliga, with Leverkusen trailing the top-six by eight points ahead of this round. They haven’t finished outside the European places since 2016/17 and continuing their solid away form may help avoid a repeat of that, with Alonso’s men losing just one of their last five Bundesliga road trips (W3, D1).
Players to watch: Still the Bundesliga’s top scorer ahead of this round, Niclas Füllkrug has netted four of his last five Bremen goals before half-time. Leverkusen midfielder Kerem Demirbay was on the scoresheet in midweek, while he’s also scored twice and assisted three times across 11 personal H2Hs against Bremen (W3, D6, L2).
Hot stat: Bremen have scored six goals in the first 15 minutes of their Bundesliga home games – the most in the division ahead of this round.