After getting blown away by Hoffenheim in the first round in the German Bundesliga with 4:1, Werder, won their second game against Koln with 4:2 and managed to draw Bayern Munich 0:0 on Saturday as a visitor.
The team hardly got into the groups of Champions League, after facing the Italian Sampdoria, winning the first game at home with 3:1 and losing the second game away with 1:3 and in extra time, Claudio Pizzaro scored for 2:3 and thus with an extra goal away they qualified. On Tuesday the team will face Tottenham who also didn’t get in the groups easy, despite all beliefs.
The team faced Young Boys and were losing with 0:3 around the 30th minute, but luckily the Spurs were able to return 2 and only lose with 2:3. At home they had no problem scoring 4 and thus qualifying in this stage.
This is the first meeting between two teams who both qualified through the play-offs. Bremen won five and drew one of six home games in reaching the round of 16 of the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League, where they lost out to Valencia CF on away goals.
Tottenham’s last visit to Germany was for a 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage game at Bayer 04 Leverkusen that they won 1-0 through a Dimitar Berbatov goal, while Bremen have only faced English opposition twice before – and both times during coach Thomas Schaaf’s reign. Torsten Frings and Claudio Pizarro are the only survivors of the team that lost home and away to Tottenham’s neighbors Arsenal FC in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup quarter-finals.
That’s seems like all in the past and tonight we have two team that have almost nothing in common with the teams back then. The bad news for Tottenham are that Defoe is out for three months and defender Michael Dawson will also miss at least the first 3 games.
Werder would also have problems with injuries since Per Mertesacker and Naldo are both injured.
The Betting Verdict?
Werder Bremen to win @ 2.24 (Register at Betfair.com – 25£ Sign up Bonus): Werder plays really well at home, while Tottenham is like a different team away. Although these are the group stage openers and anything can happen, Werder seems to have the edge for this game and I am expecting a minimal win here for the Germans.
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