Werder Bremen's chances of ending a 12-game winless run
against Bayern Munich could be boosted when they meet in the Bundesliga on
Saturday.
Despite failing to beat Bayern since September 2008,
Robin Dutt's men are in decent form and Pep Guardiola likely to rest players
ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Champions league semi-final second leg against Real
Madrid.
The Bavarians will need to overturn a 1-0 deficit against
Real, despite dominating large swathes of their first-leg clash at the Bernabeu.
Bremen have eased any relegation worries in recent weeks
by collecting seven points from the last 12 available and they only need to
match Hamburg's result at Augsburg this weekend to be mathematically safe.
The Weserstadion club will also have revenge on their
mind, having been on the receiving end of a 7-0 thrashing to Bayern on home
soil in December.
In the four Bundesliga games since being crowned
champions in Berlin, Bayern have seen their 53-match unbeaten league run come
to an end following two defeats and a draw before getting back to winning ways
at Eintracht Braunschweig last weekend.
Despite Bayern's recent slump, and a failure to convert
possession into goals in Spain, Dutt insists he still saw positives from their
performance, and is wary of a backlash.
"It surprised me to see Bayern being
criticised," Dutt said. "They have played so dominant away from home.
"If you must criticise someone, then it would have
been Real."
When asked what kind of Bayern team he was expecting to
face, Dutt remained guarded: "It will be difficult for us to anticipate
the team line-up of Bayern."
Despite flirting with relegation, Werder have already
bettered their points tally from 2012-13.
Midfielder Philipp Bargfrede is expected to feature at
the Allianz Arena, despite picking up a knock last weekend. The 25-year-old
missed training earlier in the week, but that was only a precaution and he will
return on Saturday.
Bargfrede clashed with team-mate Clemens Fritz when
picking his injury, but it is the latter who finished worse off and is set to
miss two weeks with a knee injury.
Ozkan Yildirim (groin) is unlikely to feature and Levent
Aycicek (foot) remains a doubt, but midfielder Felix Kroos has returned from a
knee problem and will be available.
Rafinha will be suspended for Bayern after his dismissal
against Borussia Dortmund, while Diego Contento (ankle), Xherdan Shaqiri
(thigh), Thiago (knee) and Tom Starke (elbow) are all in the treatment room.
Culled from Soccerway
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