Local pride at stake as Hannover and Bremen face off
Hanover - There is more than just Northern pride at stake when winless Hannover 96 welcome out-of-sorts SV Werder Bremen to the HDI Arena on Saturday afternoon (kick-off: 15:30 CEST/13:30 GMT).
History
Top facts
- The return of two points from seven games is the worst in Hannover 96's club history.
- Werder come into this local rivalry after three straight defeats, the only side in the Bundesliga not to have taken a point in that time frame.
- For the first time in nine season, Hannover have spent two consecutive Matchdays glued to the foot of the standings.
- While for years Werder held the upper hand in the rivalry, between 2010 and 2014 Hannover finished above their age-old rivals.
- Since Viktor Skripnik took over last October, die Grün-Weißen have picked up 46 points from 32 games. By way of contrast, Hannover have secured 29 over the same period.
Possible line-ups
Hannover: Zieler - Sakai, Marcelo, Schulz, Sorg - Schmiedebach, Sané - Andreasen, Karaman - Kiyotake - Sobiech
Absentees: Benschop (groin), Prib (ankle)
Bremen: Wiedwald - Gebre Selassie, Lukimya, Vestergaard, S. Garcia - Fritz, Fröde, Junuzovic, Öztunali - Ujah, Bartels
Absentees: Wolf (hip), Bargfrede (suspended), Yildirim (knee), Johannsson (groin), Lorenzen (knee), Kroos (thigh)