Werder Bremen – Bayern Munich Preview: Bavarians look to continue winning streak

WERDER BREMEN Mielitz Gebre Selassie, Prodl, Sokratis, Fritz Junuzovic, Hunt Arnautovic, De Bruyne, Elia Petersen

BAYERN MUNICH Neuer Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Badstuber Martinez, Schweinsteiger Robben, Muller, Ribery Mandzukic

Werder Bremen boss Thomas Schaaf will have a near-full set of players from which he can pick for the visit of the Bavarians on Saturday.

Assani Lukimya, who is suspended, is the only player who is certain to miss the clash. Elsewhere, Theodor Gebre Selassi will return at right-back for Lukas Schmitz, who deputised for the Czech Republic international for the Tuesday’s win over Freiburg.

Meanwhile, Bayern are also likely to make minimal changes to the team that cruised past Wolfsburg with a 3-0 win in midweek. David Alaba is still building up his fitness after a pre-season foot injury, meaning that Holger Badstuber will continue at left-back, with Philipp Lahm on the opposite side of defence.

Bastian Schweinsteiger will continue alongside Javi Martinez in the deep-lying midfield positions, but Xherdan Shaqiri could make way for Thomas Muller, despite his impressive performance against Felix Magath’s side.

Finally, Mario Gomez has started training after undergoing ankle surgery shortly before the start of the season, leaving Mario Mandzukic to continue up front after making a flying start to his Bayern career.

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  Werder Bremen striker Nils Petersen is currently on loan from Bayern Munich. He moved to the Allianz Arena last summer from Energie Cottbus, but failed to break into the first team, prompting his switch to the Weserstadion during the recent transfer window.

• Otto Rehhagel coached Bremen for 14 years, winning two Bundesliga titles in the process, but left the club for the Bavarian giants in 1995. He failed to last one season at Bayern.

• Thomas Schaaf’s side have endured a poor record against Bayern in recent years. They have lost their last three home league encounters against the Bavarians.

• Bayern Munich striker Claudio Pizarro swapped Werder Bremen for the Allianz Arena this summer, repeating a transfer that he had previously made in 2001.

• Roten stalwart Bastian Schweinsteiger (pictured, right) has scored four goals this season in his seven appearances. He managed just one more throughout the whole of last season.

• Summer signing Mario Mandzukic has scored in all but one of his five appearances in a Bayern jersey to date.