The German title race heats up this weekend as Dortmund travels to Bremen to attempt to keep pace with Bayern and Leipzig while also keeping pressure on M’Gladbach who has a game in hand. At the time of writing, Bayern has already pulled away from the pack with a 3-2 away win. RB Leipzig, on the other hand, have a tough trip to Gelsenkirch with the game to start just after the final whistle in Bremen. RB are coming off a 3-0 win against Bremen and is looking to take on a tough opponent in Schalke. Schalke will want to stay in the running for a Champions League spot and a draw or win will do against RB Leipzig. This has created an interesting conundrum for M’Gladbach as they have a game in hand but also must battle for points against a Hoffenheim team just outside of the European spots.
All this leads to the Dortmund Bremen match which has become something of a must-win for Dortmund. With the recent cup loss to Bremen the team must find a way to push through the injuries to Brandt and Reus.
Jadon Sancho has been firing on all cylinders and Håland obviously is a world class forward so the difficulty of diversifying the attack lands on the shoulders of Hazard. Hazard has worked hard in recent games and should continue to run hard and things will work eventually.
Moving to the midfield two, Axel Witsel and Emre Can should also remain intact as this should provide continued stability in center midfield.
In defense, with Guerreiro pouring his soul into the midweek Champions League win, it will be interesting if Nico Schultz will be tasked with running up and down the left flank. The rest of the defensive players will probably remain the same with Zagadou, Hummels, and Piszczek continuing to play some of the best defense of the season. Hakimi on the right flank is almost a given. Right Centerback could be considered for a change with Akanji coming in to replace Piszczek.
A huge talking point is not only Dortmund’s injury list but Bremen’s. Bremen also has numerous players injured and one of their star players in Maximilian Eggestein. With six players injured Bremen will have few established options for even their first eleven and their bench will be very thin.
Dortmund should come to Bremen with confidence as this is a different team they are playing and the depth of Dortmund should prevail. I predict a 3-1 victory with a goal from Hazard, Sancho, and Håland.
Author: Nicholas Dietrich