Teams | December 13, 2013 at 04:51 PM
Final home game of the year
Final home game of the year
Hertha BSC host Werder Bremen at the Olympic stadium on Friday night.
Berlin - On Friday night (13.12.13) Hertha BSC entertain Werder Bremen at the Olympic stadium in Berlin on Bundesliga matchday 16. While Hertha beat bottom placed side Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0 last time out, the northern German visitors lost 0-7 at home to treble winners Bayern Munich. Despite that hammering, Berlin boss Jos Luhukay knows that to underestimate Werder could be costly. He expects the encounter to be anything but easy. Around 45,000 tickets have been sold for the game which is Hertha's final home game of the first half of the season. The capital city side have a poor historical record against Bremen although their home record is not too bad: In 30 matches Hertha won 14, drew 7 and lost 9.
Jos Luhukay is without the services of Änis Ben-Hatira, Sebastian Langkamp, Johannes van den Bergh, Sascha Burchert and Alexander Baumjohann through injury. He has various options to replace van den Bergh in Levan Kobiashvili and Nico Schulz - both of whom have differing qualities. Luhukay said at the pre-match press conference: "Kobi is more balanced while Nico is the more attack-minded of the two. I will consider my options and hopefully make the right decision on Friday." The Dutchman is very much looking forward to Friday's floodlit clash. He explained: "In our last few home games we marked closely, dominated at times had plenty of possession and kept things tight at the back. We want to reap our rewards against Bremen by being more efficient in front of goal." The win in Braunschweig was good for team confidence ahead of the visit of Werder. The Berlin defence in particular has shone so far this season, having only conceded 17 goals in 16 matches. Luhukay added: "I am impressed myself by the way the team goes about things. We came up from Bundesliga 2 with the best defensive record and have carrried it on in the top flight. We have yet to concede from a counter attack and that despite the fact that we begin defending high up the pitch."
Luhukay expects defensive visitors - Dutt praises Hertha as a strong team
Werder's recent problems have been in defence, as the 0-7 thrashing at home to Munich last week underlined. The Hertha coach again: "I don't think that we are in a position to underestimate Werder. Obviously losing so heavily at home to Bayern was not good for team confidence, but they are keen to show the right reaction on Friday. I expect a tough game and am interested in how Bremen approach the game." He told the gathered media the day before the game: "Of course Bayern are a team that you can lose that heavily against but they have conceded 11 goals in only two games so a coach must try to stabilise things at the back." Luhukay does not expect Werder to allow his team much space to operate in and expects his team to act accordingly. The Dutchman: "It doesn't change our approach to the game. We want to take the initiative and play as attacking as possible. We want to do what makes us all happy - creating good goals. That has been missing in recent games."
"I stand 100% behind my team", said Werder Bremen coach Robin Dutt before the trip to Berlin. The team deserves that support because they have given their all in recent matches says Dutt. He said before the season that the campaign would involve highs and lows and that is exactly what has happened. Last weekend's drubbing was the heaviest home defeat in Werder's history, so Dutt is hoping for better things in the Bundesliga matchday 16 opener on Friday night. Dutt revealed that his player's attitude in training has been spot on all week. He respects how Hertha have performed so far as a newly-promoted team. The Bremen boss says that Hertha are a maturing team who are very strong. Dutt looks likely to be without his captain Clemens Fritz on Friday night, after the defender had to interrupt training in midweek. On the good news side Werder look likely to be able to play vice-captain Aaron Hunt who missed training at the start of the week.
Possible line-ups:
Hertha BSC: Kraft - Pekarik, Brooks, Lustenberger, Kobiashvili/Schulz - Cigerci, Hosogai - Allagui/Ndjeng, Ronny, Skjelbred - Ramos
Werder Bremen: Wolf - Gebre-Selassie, Lukimya, Caldirola, García- Makiadi, Bargfrede - Elia, Hunt, di Santo/Ekici - Petersen
Jos Luhukay is without the services of Änis Ben-Hatira, Sebastian Langkamp, Johannes van den Bergh, Sascha Burchert and Alexander Baumjohann through injury. He has various options to replace van den Bergh in Levan Kobiashvili and Nico Schulz - both of whom have differing qualities. Luhukay said at the pre-match press conference: "Kobi is more balanced while Nico is the more attack-minded of the two. I will consider my options and hopefully make the right decision on Friday." The Dutchman is very much looking forward to Friday's floodlit clash. He explained: "In our last few home games we marked closely, dominated at times had plenty of possession and kept things tight at the back. We want to reap our rewards against Bremen by being more efficient in front of goal." The win in Braunschweig was good for team confidence ahead of the visit of Werder. The Berlin defence in particular has shone so far this season, having only conceded 17 goals in 16 matches. Luhukay added: "I am impressed myself by the way the team goes about things. We came up from Bundesliga 2 with the best defensive record and have carrried it on in the top flight. We have yet to concede from a counter attack and that despite the fact that we begin defending high up the pitch."
Luhukay expects defensive visitors - Dutt praises Hertha as a strong team
Werder's recent problems have been in defence, as the 0-7 thrashing at home to Munich last week underlined. The Hertha coach again: "I don't think that we are in a position to underestimate Werder. Obviously losing so heavily at home to Bayern was not good for team confidence, but they are keen to show the right reaction on Friday. I expect a tough game and am interested in how Bremen approach the game." He told the gathered media the day before the game: "Of course Bayern are a team that you can lose that heavily against but they have conceded 11 goals in only two games so a coach must try to stabilise things at the back." Luhukay does not expect Werder to allow his team much space to operate in and expects his team to act accordingly. The Dutchman: "It doesn't change our approach to the game. We want to take the initiative and play as attacking as possible. We want to do what makes us all happy - creating good goals. That has been missing in recent games."
"I stand 100% behind my team", said Werder Bremen coach Robin Dutt before the trip to Berlin. The team deserves that support because they have given their all in recent matches says Dutt. He said before the season that the campaign would involve highs and lows and that is exactly what has happened. Last weekend's drubbing was the heaviest home defeat in Werder's history, so Dutt is hoping for better things in the Bundesliga matchday 16 opener on Friday night. Dutt revealed that his player's attitude in training has been spot on all week. He respects how Hertha have performed so far as a newly-promoted team. The Bremen boss says that Hertha are a maturing team who are very strong. Dutt looks likely to be without his captain Clemens Fritz on Friday night, after the defender had to interrupt training in midweek. On the good news side Werder look likely to be able to play vice-captain Aaron Hunt who missed training at the start of the week.
Possible line-ups:
Hertha BSC: Kraft - Pekarik, Brooks, Lustenberger, Kobiashvili/Schulz - Cigerci, Hosogai - Allagui/Ndjeng, Ronny, Skjelbred - Ramos
Werder Bremen: Wolf - Gebre-Selassie, Lukimya, Caldirola, García- Makiadi, Bargfrede - Elia, Hunt, di Santo/Ekici - Petersen