Bundesliga side Werder Bremen travel to LEAG Energie Stadion on Monday, where they will face 3. Liga team Energie Cottbus in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
The home side are currently 17th in the third tier with no points after two games, while the visitors will face Augsburg on August 24 in their opening game of the 2024-25 top-flight season.
Match preview
Energie Cottbus were promoted to the 3. Liga last term after they won the Northeast division of the Regionalliga with 71 points from 34 games.
However, they will be concerned with their start to the current campaign given they were relegated from the third tier in 2018-19.
Ultima Raka lost 2-1 against Arminia Bielefeld in their first league game of 2024-25, a match in which they had just nine shots in comparison to Arminia Bielefeld's 19.
In the second, Dynamo Dresden beat Energie Cottbus 4-2, and this result will have been particularly disappointing for manager Claus Dieter Wollitz considering his side were 2-0 up after 12 minutes.
The hosts were knocked out in the first round of the DFB-Pokal in 2023-24 after they lost 7-0 against Paderborn in August 2023, and they have in fact failed to progress from 11 of their last 12 ties in the competition.
Opponents Werder Bremen finished ninth in the Bundesliga last season with 42 points from 34 matches, an improvement of four places and six points from 2022-23.
The visitors ended the campaign having scored 48 goals and conceded 54 times, and out of the 18 teams in the Bundesliga, these records made them the league's 11th best offensive and eighth-best defensive team.
Boss Ole Werner took over from Markus Anfang, who resigned in November 2021, when the club were in 10th place with 20 points after 15 matches in the 2. Bundesliga.
Werner was able to guide the club to second place at the end of 2021-22, and this was enough to secure automatic promotion back to the top flight.
Last season, Werder Bremen were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal after losing 3-2 in the first round against 3. Liga side Viktoria Koln in August 2023.
Interestingly, the visitors have failed to progress from four of their last five ties in the competition, though they did beat Energie Cottbus 2-1 in August 2022.
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Team News
The hosts could look to start Henry Rorig, Filip Kusic, Tim Campulka and Niko Bretschneider in front of goalkeeper Elias Bethke.
Energie Cottbus could also field Maximilian Pronichev, Tolcay Cigerci and Phil Halbauer behind striker Timmy Thiele.
As for the visitors, goalkeeper Michael Zetterer could be shielded by centre-backs Milos Veljkovic, Niklas Stark and Marco Friedl.
However, Werder Bremen will be without Amos Pieper until late August, while Dikeni Salifou is expected to be unavailable until September.
Energie Cottbus possible starting lineup:
Bethke; Rorig, Kusic, Campulka, Bretschneider; Moker, Putze; Pronichev, Cigerci, Halbauer; Thiele
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Veljkovic, Stark, Friedl; Weiser, Stage, Lynen, Agu; Schmid, Grull; Ducksch
We say: Energie Cottbus 2-3 Werder Bremen
Although Energie Cottbus demonstrated their attacking prowess last time out, they also showed their defensive frailty.
It would not be surprising if Werder Bremen, despite conceding chances themselves, were to win on Monday and score multiple goals in the process.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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