Newly-promoted Werder Bremen have made a very good start to the Bundesliga season and can continue it Friday night against an Augsburg team that has lost four of their opening five games.
Bookmaker William Hill has a good selection of enhanced odds for the game, including Werder to win both halves at 4.50.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: September 8th, 8:00 A.M. (EST)
Werder, who are back among the big boys after a one-year absence, have been fearless and full of confidence so far, scoring a lot of goals and fighting right until the very end. On August 20, Werder became the first team in Bundesliga history to score three times from the 89th-minute mark as Ole Werner’s men ended up getting an amazing 3-2 away victory against Dortmund.
Werner has seen his side score 12 times already and only Bayern Munich have managed more through five games (17). The prolific attack has helped Bremen to post another Bundesliga record as they are the first side to score a header in each of their opening five games of a season since the detailed data collection began in 2004-05.
The four-time German champions have a fearsome duo upfront with Marvin Ducksch and Niclas Füllkrug, who both stand at six-foot-two, and their presence makes life very difficult for defenders. The pair combined for 39 goals in the 2. Bundesliga last season and Füllkrug currently shares the league lead in goals in the top flight with five. Ducksch has yet to open his account but does have two assists to his name.
Augsburg have registered just three goals as a team early in the season. They picked up a great result in the second round of action with a 2-1 away win against Leverkusen, but things have looked pretty miserable in the rest of their outings. Augsburg couldn’t even hang with fellow strugglers Hertha Berlin at home a week ago, losing 2-0.
Times are very worrying for Augsburg manager Enrico Maassen, who is working in his first Bundesliga games and doesn’t appear to be ready for this level after impressing with his work in the lower leagues.
Maassen needs to start squeezing goals out of his team and putting in a solid defensive performance against a high-scoring side like Bremen is a must. Werder’s defensive record isn’t great with 10 goals conceded and that could provide some much-needed confidence for the visitors ahead of Friday’s match.
