SV Darmstadt 98 will be desperate to win their first league game since returning to the Bundesliga when they host Werder Bremen on Sunday.

The visitors, meanwhile, have won two and lost three of their opening five matches after surviving in their first season back in the top-flight last time out.

Match preview

Darmstadt would have been under no illusions regarding the scale of the task in front of them in terms of their hope of surviving relegation this season, and the early signs are that Torsten Lieberknecht's side will be up against it.

Their 3-3 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach - when they squandered a three-goal lead following Matej Maglica's 49th-minute dismissal - remains their only point gained from five matches, with defeats to Eintracht Frankfurt, Union Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart meaning only goals scored was keeping them off the bottom of the table prior to a ball being kicked this weekend.

Darmstadt actually took the lead courtesy of Dan-Axel Zagadou's own goal in their last match at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, but Stuttgart quickly equalised through Enzo Millot's strike five minutes later, before another brace from Serhou Guirassy meant the visitors left empty-handed once again.

As such, Lieberknecht and his players are under real pressure to gain a positive result at Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor on Sunday, otherwise their first campaign in Germany's top-flight for six years could begin to quickly unravel.

Werder Bremen showed last season that it is perfectly possible to survive in the Bundesliga following promotion, but there is little doubt that they were arriving from a considerably higher base than their forthcoming opponents.

Indeed, their relegation at the end of the 2021-22 campaign was the first time they had dropped down to the second tier since 1980, but it is still impressive how quickly Ole Werner managed to help his players readjust to the top level, with his side never appearing in any real danger despite ultimately finishing just three points clear of the bottom three.

The 35-year-old will be hoping to see his side make another fast start in order to give themselves as much breathing space as possible, and six points from five games represents a reasonable return on that front, with struggling sides Mainz 05 and FC Koln both dispatched at Weserstadion throughout the course of September.

Despite losing star striker Niclas Fullkrug to Borussia Dortmund at the end of last month, Die Werderaner still possess plenty of firepower - especially in the form of Marvin Ducksch - and they will be hoping that can help them rack up another victory against potential relegation rivals this weekend.

Team News

With former Norwich City centre-back Christoph Zimmermann still sidelined by a back injury, Maglica is set to return to the hosts' back three after serving his one-match suspension against Stuttgart.

Fabio Torsiello is ruled out due to a thigh issue, while Fraser Hornby, Oscar Vilhelmsson, Braydon Manu and Fabian Nurnberger are all doubts.

Werder Bremen, meanwhile, are likely to travel without club captain Marco Friedl due to an abdominal issue, with Werner unlikely to make any changes to a winning starting XI after beating Koln last time out.

Rafael Santos Borre - who arrived on a loan deal from Frankfurt as Fullkrug's replacement on transfer deadline day - made his first start for the club in that match and repaid his new manager's faith with his first goal too.

SV Darmstadt 98 possible starting lineup:
Schuhen; Klarer, Gjasula, Maglica; Bader, Mehlem, Holland, Karic; Skarke, Honsak; Pfeiffer

Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Pavlenka; Pieper, Stark, Veljkovic; Weiser, Schmid, Lynen, Stage, Deman; Borre, Ducksch

We say: SV Darmstadt 98 1-3 Werder Bremen

Despite selling Fullkrug towards the end of the transfer window, Werder Bremen still retain plenty of quality in attacking areas, and we expect them to have a little too much for Darmstadt as a result.

The hosts have conceded 16 goals in five matches and simply do not look capable of keeping clean sheets at this level, so it could be a long and difficult season for them, even if they should show plenty of fight and score a reasonable amount of goals along the way.


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