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

The visitors, on the other hand, returned to winning ways against Union Berlin last weekend.

Match preview

Having began the season with 12 points from six matches, Wolfsburg's league form has severely regressed in recent weeks, with Niko Kovac's side suffering successive defeats against Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen and Augsburg.

Given the former two teams' form this season, there was certainly no disgrace in those losses, but Kovac would have been particularly disappointing by leaving Augsburg with nothing to show for themselves last time out.

That is especially true given that the Wolves had led 2-1 with little more than 10 minutes of normal time remaining, but Sebastian Bornauw's own goal was compounded by Arne Engels' late winner, with Felix Uduokhai's dismissal not helping the Wolves find a late response.

However, Wolfsburg did claim an excellent victory against RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal in midweek, with Vaclav Cerny's early strike proving enough to send them into the third round. With no European football, Kovac and his players will feel they are capable of challenging for Germany's domestic cup, but they will desperate to fix their league form first and foremost.

Werder Bremen, meanwhile, had been on the wrong end of three consecutive losses themselves until they inflicted a 10th successive defeat in all competitions on Union Berlin last weekend.

Having ended last season in a significant slump, with just one win from their final 12 matches, Bremen's run of defeats would have sparked huge fears of them facing a relegation battle this time around, which could still prove to be the case.

However, any victory can significantly change the mood around a club. Robin Knoche's own goal gave Ole Werner's side a narrow half-time lead against Union Berlin, before Rani Khedira was shown a straight red card on the hour mark. Marvin Ducksch doubled Bremen's lead late on to seal a crucial victory, which moved them four points clear of the bottom three.

Die Werderaner were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal at the first round by Viktoria Koln in early August, meaning they should be fresher coming into this clash against Wolfsburg, with Werner hoping to see his players use this to their advantage in the form of claiming a positive result.

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Wolfsburg form (all competitions):

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Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:

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Team News

Wolfsburg will remain without Patrick Wimmer, Koen Casteels, Rogerio, Lukas Nmecha, Kilian Fischer and Felix Lange due to injury.

The likes of Jonas Wind, Joachim Maehle and Maximilian Arnold will all expect to return to the hosts' starting XI after only being used from the bench during their side's win against Leipzig in the cup on Tuesday.

Werder Bremen, meanwhile, will travel without Christian Gross, Jiri Pavlenka and Naby Keita due to injury, while Niklas Stark, Nicolai Rapp and Romano Schmid are all doubtful.

Senne Lynen would be the obvious replacement for Schmid in the visitors' midfield should he fail to prove his fitness in time, but otherwise Werner is unlikely to change a winning team.

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Pervan; Maehle, Lacroix, Jenz, Cozza; Svanberg, Arnold; Cerny, Majer, Gerhardt; Wind

Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:

Zetterer; Veljkovic, Friedl, Jung; Weiser, Lynen, Stage, Bittencourt, Deman; Borre, Ducksch

We say: Wolfsburg 2-1 Werder Bremen

Wolfsburg will be determined to put an end to their recent losing streak in the Bundesliga, with their win against Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal in midweek likely to have boosted their confidence.

Werder Bremen will be content with avoiding relegation this weekend and having won their last game, we can see them returning to losing ways here.

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