Borussia Dortmund play Werder Bremen in the second round of the DFB-Pokal tonight as the sides come face-to-face for the second time this month.
On 9 October, the sides clashed in the Bundesliga and played out a 2-2 draw, with Dortmund relinquishing their 2-0 lead late on in a massive defensive collapse.
As they renew hostilities on Tuesday, Niko Kovac's side would have revenge on their mind although Bremen have knocked the BVB out in their last three cup meetings.
If the Black and Yellow were to snap that run here, they ought to exploit these two prominent weaknesses in the current Werder Bremen side:
1) Set-piece vulnerability
Werder Bremen have conceded in all seven Bundesliga games this season, shipping in a total of 14 goals. Only five teams have let in more at this stage of the campaign as the side has been consistently found out at the back. But their defensive issues don't stop there.
Bremen are highly vulnerable in set-pieces too and have conceded four league goals in such situations so far, including one against Dortmund themselves this month when Nico Schlotterbeck rose the highest to meet with a corner.
It's an Achilles heel which the Black and Yellow must be looking to exploit again if open play isn't yielding anything. They have two exceptional delivery boys in Julian Ryerson and Joey Veerman, both of whom are expected to start tonight and will be looking to capitalize on their corners and free-kicks.
2) Susceptible to attacks on the wings
Werder Bremen, for all their attacking prowess this season, have one major structural issue. Daniel Thioune's system requires them to press aggressively with full-backs also involved. They drive high up the pitch to create overloads and stretch out opposition defenses, but it leaves them exposed at the back with their wide players consistently coming up short in recoveries.
If Dortmund are able to break their counter-press, Bremen's wide areas would be completely vacant, allowing the likes of Ryerson and Daniel Svensson to race into the wide areas behind their wing-backs and create potential one-on-one situations or deliver dangerous passes/crosses for central players to feed on.
The BVB are quite aware of this weakness of Bremen too. Back on 9 October, Serhou Guirassy ran into the space on the right unchallenged before teeing up Fabio Silva inside the box. Although the Portuguese couldn't get his shot away, Svensson raced in and turned the loose ball home.
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