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

The Wolves, meanwhile, have won six straight matches to put themselves firmly in contention for the European qualification places.

Match preview

Having flown out of the traps following their promotion from the second tier last season, Werder Bremen have found life much tougher in the Bundesliga in recent matches.

Die Werderaner have lost two games either side of the World Cup, with Ole Werner's side thrashed 7-1 away to FC Koln in their first game back last weekend, before being narrowly defeated at home to Union Berlin on Wednesday evening.

Their most recent opponents - who have laid the blueprint for promoted clubs in recent years - showed great resolve to come from behind after Amos Pieper had marked his return from injury by opening the scoring, with Janik Haberer and Kevin Behrens striking either side of half-time to move their side up to second in the table.

With his own team still five points clear of the relegation places, Werner certainly will not be panicking about their recent drop-off in results, especially with fixtures against the likes of Stuttgart, VfL Bochum and Augsburg all on the horizon to turn things around against potential relegation rivals.

This weekend, though, given the form of their forthcoming opponents, the 34-year-old would almost certainly bite your hand off to put an end to their losing run and stop the rot.

Indeed, after failing to win any of his opening five league games in charge after taking over as manager last summer, very few people could have foreseen Wolfsburg's astonishing form coming under Niko Kovac.

The former Bayern Munich boss has seriously turned things around at the Volkswagen Arena, with his side heading into the break for the World Cup on an eight-match unbeaten run - and four-game winning streak - before blitzing Freiburg and Hertha Berlin 6-0 and 5-0 respectively within the past week.

For the second successive match, the Wolves led 3-0 at half-time when they visited Olympiastadion on Tuesday evening, with Jonas Wind laying down a marker for a long-term role in attack in the absence of the injured Lukas Nmecha by getting himself on the scoresheet once again.

Having finished 12th last season, Kovac and the club's board may have had relatively modest aims heading into their first campaign under the former Croatia international's tutelage, but they have moved to within two points of a Champions League spot and look set to be tough to stop on current form.

Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:

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Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

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Wolfsburg form (all competitions):

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Team News

Werder will remain without Romano Schmid (knee) and Felix Agu (tendon), but otherwise their manager appears to have a full squad at his disposal.

Despite falling to defeat last time out, Werner's side looked much more assured than in their previous thrashing at the hands of Koln, so Milos Veljkovic may have to settle for a place on the substitutes' bench once again after being dropped in midweek.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, will travel without Nmecha, who missed out on representing Germany in Qatar due to a knee injury, while his brother Felix Nmecha is doubtful due to a thigh issue.

Kovac's only change is likely to be reinstating Paulo Otavio - who missed out in midweek after collecting his fifth booking of the season during his side's previous victory against Freiburg - to provide natural width from left-back. Maxence Lacroix will almost certainly make way having struggled to earn a regular spot in Kovac's starting XI this season.

Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:

Pavlenka; Pieper, Stark, Friedl; Weiser, Bittencourt, Schmidt, Gruev, Jung; Fullkrug, Ducksch

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Baku, Bornauw, Van de Ven, Otavio; Svanberg, Arnold, Gerhardt; Wimmer, Wind, Kaminski

We say: Werder Bremen 1-3 Wolfsburg

Both side possess plenty of firepower within their ranks, so it should be an entertaining encounter at Weserstadion on Saturday.

However, the two teams' form could hardly be more contrasting in recent matches, and we expect Wolfsburg to have a little more bite to continue their phenomenal winning streak.

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