Preview: Werder Bremen vs. Bayer Leverkusen - prediction, team news, lineups

Ninth-placed Leverkusen lead 11th-placed Werder in the Bundesliga table, although both sides have won nine of their 23 league matches this season.

Match preview

After gaining promotion from the second tier last year, Werder Bremen hit the ground running on their return to the Bundesliga, kicking off their campaign with a run of two defeats in nine league outings.

Since then, however, the River Islanders have suffered nine defeats in 14 Bundesliga encounters, with a damaging run of six losses in eight games between October and January dragging them down the standings.

Still, Werder Bremen remain 11 points clear of the relegation zone thanks to their strong start to the campaign, while Ole Werner's men have shown glimpses of their early-season form in recent times.

Although Werder have managed to win just four of their last 14 league games, they have claimed three victories across their previous six outings, securing back-to-back wins against Wolfsburg and Stuttgart before beating VfL Bochum 3-0.

Werner's side suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat to Augsburg last time out, despite racking up 63% possession and 20 shots at the WWK Arena, so they will be hopeful of producing another dominant display on home soil.

Bayer Leverkusen extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to four games with a 2-0 victory over Hungarian club Ferencvaros on Thursday, putting them in pole position to reach the Europa League quarter-finals.

That win followed last weekend's 4-1 thrashing of relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin, which came after an impressive 1-1 draw at Champions League-chasing Freiburg.

Despite Leverkusen's recent upturn, it is worth remembering that Xabi Alonso's men have lost three of their previous six Bundesliga matches, falling to Borussia Dortmund, Augsburg and Mainz 05 in recent weeks.

It is also worth noting that Die Werkself have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last six Bundesliga encounters, with only five clean sheets coming in their 23 league outings this season.

Having won 11 of his 22 games since replacing Gerardo Seoane back in October, Alonso boasts a 50% win ratio as Leverkusen manager, but it feels as though the Spaniard is still searching for the right formula at the BayArena.

Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:

W

W

L

L

W

L

Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga form:

L

L

W

L

D

W

Bayer Leverkusen form (all competitions):

L

L

W

D

W

W

Team News

Werder Bremen will be without the injured trio of Felix Agu (knee), Jean Manuel Mbom (calf) and Dikeni Salifou (calf) this weekend.

There are also question marks over the fitness of English youngster Lee Buchanan and key centre-back Niklas Stark, who both missed the previous game due to illness.

Having netted 14 goals this season, Niclas Fullkrug will aim to strengthen his position at the summit of the Bundesliga scoring charts as he leads the line for the hosts on Sunday.

As for the visitors, Charles Aranguiz (calf) and Andrey Lunev (back) remain sidelined due to injury, while Mitchel Bakker is a doubt having missed the rout against Hertha Berlin due to personal reasons.

Moussa Diaby bagged a goal and an assist last weekend, taking his tally for the season to 11 goals and six assists across all competitions, while Jeremie Frimpong has contributed six goals and eight assists from right-back.

Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:

Pavlenka; Pieper, Gross, Friedl; Bittencourt, Schmidt, Gruev, Stage, Jung; Fullkrug, Ducksch

Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:

Hradecky; Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba; Frimpong, Palacios, Andrich, Hincapie; Diaby, Wirtz; Azmoun

We say: Werder Bremen 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen

Given the one-point gap between the teams in the Bundesliga table, we can see Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen playing out a close-fought battle.

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