Werder Bremen vs Bochum Preview & Prediction | 2023-24 German Bundesliga
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Should Werder Bremen fail to get the better of Bochum, then the visitors will be assured of their place in the German top flight in 2024-25, regardless of results elsewhere.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 18th May 2024, UK – 14:30 / US EST – 09:30 / US PST – 07:30
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports schedule / US – ESPN
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Sky Go / US – ESPN+
WERDER BREMEN PREVIEW: WERDER BREMEN’S EUROPEAN PROSPECTS LARGELY DEPEND ON THIS RESULT
Werder Bremen are ending the season strongly to their credit, despite them having nothing to play for other than mid-table positioning. The hosts are now unbeaten over the course of their last four Bundesliga fixtures, winning two but most recently drawing their last two against Borussia Monchengladbach and RB Leipzig respectively.
Their draw away at Leipzig in particular warrants significant credit. Werder took the lead in the first-half through an own goal before the hosts pegged them back just after the hour mark. But Ole Werner’s side held on to secure a deserved point.
BOCHUM PREVIEW: ON THE VERGE OF SAFETY, BOCHUM AIM TO FINISH THE JOB
Although Bochum currently sit in 14th-place, they are not yet guaranteed of their place in the Bundesliga next season. With three points between them and the bottom three, one more point will finish the job with two wins from their last three league games having proven worth their weight in gold.
Bochum had the opportunity to secure survival last weekend, but were unsurprisingly beaten heavily by Bayer Leverkusen. Having conceded five goals over the course of their two prior wins, Bochum’s backline was never likely to keep Leverkusen at bay and shipped five goals to the champions-elect.
WERDER BREMEN TEAM NEWS: STRIKER NJINMAH WON’T RETURN TO WERDER SQUAD
Werder Bremen forward Justin Njinmah’s illness keeps him out of contention when it comes to being selected here, so Nick Woltemade should keep his place in the Werder starting line-up alongside the likes of Marvin Ducksch and Romano Schmid. Skelly Alvero and Amos Pieper are out injured.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-3): Zetterer; Veljkovic, Friedl, Jung; Weiser, Bittencourt, Lynen, Agu; Schmid, Woltemade, Ducksch
UNAVAILABLE: Alvero (Injured), Njinmah (illness), Pieper (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
BOCHUM TEAM NEWS: PASSLACK SUSPENDED AND JOINS A SIZEABLE LIST OF UNAVAILABLE PLAYERS
Bochum’s recent run of results is made even more impressive by their injury list, which consists of multiple players at this time. The likes of Esser, Forster and Kwarteng are all out, whilst Felix Passlack is suspended. Goalkeeper Niclas Thiede and defender Mohammed Tolba are also missing with a broken finger and knee problem respectively.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Riemann; Gamboa, Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Bernardo; Losilla, Osterhage; Broschinski, Stoger, Wittek; Hofmann
UNAVAILABLE: Esser (Injured), Forster (Injured), Kwarteng (Injured), Passlack (Suspended), Thiede (Injured), Tolba (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
WERDER BREMEN VS BOCHUM PREDICTION
Avoiding defeat has to be the priority here for Bochum and with that in mind, it would be no surprise to see them prioritise defensive stability and making themselves as difficult as possible to break down, knowing a clean sheet secures survival. Goals may be hard to come by as a result especially if Werder don’t score early on and backing under 2.5 of them to be scored appears a smart play.
WERDER BREMEN VS BOCHUM TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS
