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European Football
Preview - 01 Sep 2007
Werder revival may prove to be
false dawn.
After throwing away a two goal lead on the opening Bundesliga
weekend, and then suffering a four goal humiliation at home to
Bayern Munich a fortnight ago, Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf now
feels his side are back in business. A hard-fought 1-0 win at
Nurnberg last week was followed by a 3-2 victory in Croatia against
Dinamo Zagreb, to reach the Champions League group phase.
Bremen were considered the most likely to give big-spending
Bayern a run for their money this season, but a combination of
injuries and patchy defending sees them five points off the pace
after only three games.
That injury list shows no signs of easing, with key midfielders
Torsten Frings, Tim Borowski and big summer signing Carlos Alberto
still on the treatment table. Brazil star Diego is the man of the
moment, having netted twice from the penalty spot against Dinamo,
but he is the only genuine creative spark in this current Werder
side, who are yet hit the free-flowing heights of years gone by.
Saturday's opponents Eintracht Frankfurt are sitting pretty with
seven points from a possible nine. The only blemish being a 2-2 draw
at high-flying Bielefeld. Despite dominating for long periods,
Friedhelm Funkel's charges found themselves two goals down late in
the game, showing tremendous character to level the scores in the
closing stages.
The midfield duo of Albert Streit and Alexander Meier have been
in fine form, with ex-Arsenal starlet Junichi Inamoto expertly
protecting the back four. Thus freeing up the aforementioned duo to
get forward more often than was possible during last season's
struggles. With Greek striker Amanatidis looking sharp after injury,
and the excellent Takahara waiting in the wings, Frankfurt have the
ammunition to trouble any defence on their day.
Werder will undoubtedly rediscover their attacking verve once
Schaaf can field something like his first-choice midfield. In the
short-term however, they look ripe for opposing against a confident,
well-disciplined Frankfurt side, who actually scuppered their title
challenge with a shock 2-1 victory here last April.
Selection - 2pts FRANKFURT
Draw No Bet at 4/1 (Victor Chandler)
Werder Bremen v Eintracht Frankfurt
Kick off 2.30pm (GMT+1) 01 Sep 2007
Market link
http://www.victorchandler.com/football_ftht.jsp?ot=21600&eid=104673600
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