Werder Bremen vs Schalke: probable line-ups, match stats and blog LIVE!

Werder Bremen are hopeful that captain Ömer Toprak will be fit enough to take the start when Simon Terodde and Schalke arrive in town on Saturday (kick off: 8:30 p.m. CET).

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Toprak clocked his first minutes since Matchday 6 when he came on in the 90th minute in the victory over Nuremberg on Matchday 13. The 32-year-old has had another week of training since to get back into shape, which is timely given the injury of Milos Veljkovic on international duty and the suspension of Marco Friedl. Nicolai Rapp is also absent after receiving, like Freidl, a fifth yellow card of the season in Nuremberg. Jean-Manuel Mbom is expected to move into midfield to replace Rapp.

Werder are in eighth place, three points behind Schalke in fifth, and the visitors could move closer to league leaders St. Pauli with a victory at the Weserstadion. They might still be in better shape, but for two rebound losses before the international break, capped by the 4-2 Matchday 13 loss at home to Darmstadt. It was Terodde’s fourth scoreless game, delaying his wait to become the top scorer in Bundesliga 2 history. He gets another chance at Bremen, however, and remains just behind league top scorer Sven Michel . Further on, Dries Wouters is approaching full form, but this one could come too soon for him, Malick Thiaw, Ko Itakura and Marcin Kaminski should constitute the defense to three.

To concern: Top 5 goals between Bremen and Schalke

Match statistics

• Bremen striker Marvin Ducksch scored more attempts at goal than any other Bundesliga 2 player in 2021/22 (59).
• Niclas Füllkrug – captain of Werder in Matchday 12 and 13 – has scored two goals and as many assists in his last three outings.
• Bremen’s record in 52 Bundesliga home games with Schalke reads: W28, D9, L15.
• Schalke’s top scorer Terodde has not scored in four matches since equaling Dieter Schatzschneider’s record 2 goals in the Bundesliga (153) or in four meetings with Bremen.
• Third best defense in the division after 13 rounds of matches (16 goals conceded), Schalke has won a record 1,492 challenges so far this season.
• The Royal Blues are winless in their last three meetings with Werder, and have won only two of their previous 10 in all competitions (D1, L7).

Likely queues

Bremen: Pavlenka – Mai, Toprak (c), Jung – Gruev – Weiser, Mbom, Schmidt, Schmid – Füllkrug, Ducksch
Outside: Friedl (suspended), Rapp (suspended), Veljkovic (muscular), Woltemade (foot)
Doubtful: Agu (veal)
Coach: Danjiel Zenkovic

Schalke: Fraisl – Thiaw, Itakura, Kaminski – Palsson – Aydin, Drexler, Latza (c), Ouwejan – Terodde, Bülter
Outside: Langer (knee)
Doubtful: Wouters (ankle)
Coach: Dimitrios Grammozis

Review of the 14th day:

Hanover 0-0 Paderborn
Red card: Börner (69 ‘)

Hanover’s winless streak extended to seven games as they were held in check at home against Paderborn. Their hopes of ending the wait were dashed midway through the second half when Julian Börner received a red card for a professional foul at the edge of the penalty area. It could have been worse for the Lower Saxony side, however, but the post came to their aid to deny Julian Justvan. Justvan hit the post again shortly after, but Paderborn couldn’t find a winner against his hosts at ten.

Sandhausen 1-2 Nuremberg
Goals: 1-0 Höhn (66 ‘), 1-1 Nuremberg (83 ‘), 1-1 Chouranov (90 ‘+ 3)

Nuremberg came from behind to snatch the victory with the last kick of the match at Sandhausen. Immanuel Höhn gave Sandhausen a spectacular lead with a low shot from long distance into the bottom corner of Christian Mathenia’s goal. The guests responded immediately with a more offensive approach, but it wasn’t until seven minutes from time that they equalized when another long-range effort found the back of the net, this time with Nürnberger on target. More was to come for the guests with substitute Erik Shuranov bringing the ball home in the middle of a scoring run to end Nuremberg’s two-game losing streak.