Florian Kohfeldt on the game: The Werder head coach was as pleased as anyone with the two pre-Christmas wins against Mainz and Hannover, but sees no relevance in them with regard to the Union game. "In my opinion, the wind in our sails from these games has died down, and it is out job to recreate it," said the 38-year-old. On Saturday, Kohfeldt went on, the key to success will be finding the right balance: "We will be vigilant and cannot allow ourselves to make any careless mistakes. At the same time, we have to be proactive." The team, he reported, had been working hard all week to tick off the first three points of the year this weekend. "I think this could be the kind of game that allows us to establish some mid-table stability," said Kohfeldt, stressing the importance of the game. Despite the points gap in the table between the two sides, the Werder boss is convinced that his players are individually every bit as good as Union’s players. "We cannot allow our intensity to drop, not even a little bit," he continued, before going on to describe Urs Fischer’s side as "unbelievably disciplined and physical" – with or without Max Kruse, whom Kohfeldt would have liked to see back at the Weser. From a sporting perspective, the 38-year-old may be pleased that his former player will miss the game, but on a personal level he wishes him a “speedy recovery!”
Previous encounters: Union are a tough team to play against, which SV Werder learned in their most recent meeting in 2019/20. While Werder won the first encounter that season at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei by two goals to one through goals from Davy Klaassen (5’) and Niclas Füllkrug (55’), Union won the second time around, beating Werder 2-0 in Bremen.