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Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen preview: Can BVB finally get back to winning ways?

By Alex Orillac

MADRID, SPAIN - DECEMBER 06: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (R) of Borussia Dortmund celebrates scoring his team's second goal with his teammates during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on December 6, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - DECEMBER 06: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (R) of Borussia Dortmund celebrates scoring his team's second goal with his teammates during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on December 6, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images) /
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Borussia Dortmund return to Bundesliga action this weekend, looking to finally end their horrific run, which has seen them fail to register a win since September 30.

Match Information

Date: December 9th

Time: 3:30 p.m. CET (local time)/9:30 p.m. EST

Venue: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund

Shinji Kagawa was Dortmund’s best player in their 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid.(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images)
Shinji Kagawa was Dortmund’s best player in their 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid.(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images) /

Form Guide

Borussia Dortmund:

Last 5 matches: LLDDL

Last match: Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Real Madrid

Analysis: Dortmund did their best against a clearly superior Real Madrid in their final Champions League game of the season, as they looked to confirm their qualification for the Europa League. Der BVB was pushed back since kickoff and conceded a goal inside the first five minutes to striker Borja Mayoral. Just four minutes later Cristiano Ronaldo made it 2-0. Later Aubameyang scored twice to level the scoreline by the 48th minute. Finally, Lucas Vazquez scored in the 81st minute to secure a win for Real Madrid.

Werder Bremen:

Last 5 matches: LLWLW

Last Match: Werder Bremen 1-0 VfB Stuttgart

Analysis: Werder Bremen faced a superior VfB Stuttgart this past Saturday at home. Bremen striker Max Kruse managed to score just before halftime. After that, Czech goalkeeper had a magical game keeping a clean sheet in the process. Bremen is trying to escape the relegation battle and this game absolutely helped.

Opposition star man

Werder Bremen’s key player throughout the whole season has been Czech goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka. The 25-year-old goalkeeper joined Bremen during the summer coming from current Czech champions SK Slavia Praga. Pavlenka has had a pretty impressive season this year playing in 16 matches and keeping 7 clean sheets. It will be interesting to see how he fares against renowned striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang who is coming off scoring 2 goals against Real Madrid.

BREMEN, GERMANY – OCTOBER 15: Jiri Pavlenka of Werder Bremen reacts after the first goal is scored past him during the Bundesliga match between SV Werder Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach at Weserstadion on October 15, 2017, in Bremen, Germany. (Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images)
BREMEN, GERMANY – OCTOBER 15: Jiri Pavlenka of Werder Bremen reacts after the first goal is scored past him during the Bundesliga match between SV Werder Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach at Weserstadion on October 15, 2017, in Bremen, Germany. (Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images) /

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Matchup History

Dortmund and Werder Bremen have already played 98 matches in the history of both clubs. Out of those matches, Dortmund has the advantage winning 42 of them, but Werder Bremen is just 2 games shy of matching their record. In the last 10 matches, Dortmund has won 9 of them while Werder Bremen only 1.

Transfer History

Both of these clubs have made a lot of business in the past. First, off Werder Bremen legend, Torsten Frings, played 2 seasons for Borussia Dortmund racking up just 63 games for Der BVB. After playing for Dortmund and Bayern Munich the German midfielder returned to Werder Bremen where he ended up playing 449 games scoring 52 goals and 61 assists. Next up, we have Paraguayan legend, Nelson Valdez. Valdez joined Dortmund from Werder Bremen in 2006. Before that, he scored 30 goals in 113 games for Bremen. At Dortmund, the Paraguayan international scored 18 in 126 games. Finally, on the list of recent transfers we have current Dortmund center back Sokratis. The Greek center back joined Dortmund from Werder Bremen in 2013 for $9.9 million. The rest has been history, Sokratis has helped Dortmund win DFB Pokal last year and has been ever present in 176 games for the yellow and blacks.

DORTMUND, GERMANY – MAY 01: Dortmunds Nelson Valdez und Wolfsburg Marcel Schaefer (M) im Zweikampf waehrend des Bundesligaspiels Borussia Dortmund gegen Vfl Wolfsburg in der Signal Iduna Park am 1 Mai, 2010 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Krafft Angerer/DFL via Getty Images)
DORTMUND, GERMANY – MAY 01: Dortmunds Nelson Valdez und Wolfsburg Marcel Schaefer (M) im Zweikampf waehrend des Bundesligaspiels Borussia Dortmund gegen Vfl Wolfsburg in der Signal Iduna Park am 1 Mai, 2010 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Krafft Angerer/DFL via Getty Images) /

Possible lineups

Dortmund 5-4-1

Bürki – Guerreiro, Sokratis, Bartra, Zagadou, Schmelzer (c) – Pulisic, Dahoud, Weigl, Yarmolenko – Aubameyang

Hotspurs 4-3-3

Pavlenka – Augustinsson, Velijkovic, Sane, Bauer – Delaney, Junuzovic (c), Gondorf – Kainz, Kruse, Bartels

Final Prediction

Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Werder Bremen

Borussia Dortmund have shown some great signs in recent weeks. And their mid-week performance showed that they are finally ready to get back to winning ways. And against Werder Bremen at home, expect them to do exactly that.

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