Local bragging rights are not the only thing at stake when Hamburger SV welcome fierce rivals SV Werder Bremen to the Volksparkstadion in Friday’s Nordderby (kick-off 20:30CEST/18:30GMT).
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Bundesliga ever-presents HSV sit just three points above the Green-Whites, who currently occupy the relegation play-off position, after Sunday’s defeat at high-flying Borussia Dortmund. The 3-0 reverse was the Red Shorts’ fourth defeat in their last five league matches, but victory over Werder would ease any lingering relegation fears for Bruno Labbadia’s side.
Bremen, meanwhile, make the 125-kilometre journey north-east knowing that three points would lift them out of the relegation places and level on points with HSV. Viktor Skripnik’s charges bounced back from their agonising home defeat to fellow strugglers FC Augsburg on Matchday 29 with an impressive 3-2 victory over VfL Wolfsburg last time out. Claudio Pizarro became Werder’s outright record goalscorer in that win at the Weser Stadium and will be looking to continue his rich vein of form under the Friday night lights.
Matchday 14 rewind: Bremen 1-3 Hamburg
Goals: 0-1 Ilicevic (3’), 0-2 Gregoritsch (26’), 1-2 Ujah (62’), 1-3 Müller (68’)
Hamburg produced a dominant display at the Weser Stadium to beat Bremen in the 103rd top-flight instalment of the Nordderby.
Matchday 31 – match stats
Werder ended a run of four successive matches without a win on Matchday 30, but remain in 16th place going into this one.
Had Bremen lost to Wolfsburg, Skripnik’s men would be five points off guaranteed safety with four games left to play.
Only Bayern have won more Bundesliga games played on a Friday than Hamburg.
However, HSV have lost as many home games this term (seven) as in the whole of last season.
Hamburg have lost all five home games against teams below them in the table this season.
This is the 104th Bundesliga meeting between the two clubs, making it the most played fixture in top-flight history. These two great rivals have faced each other every season apart from the 1980/81 campaign, when Werder were in the second tier.
Possible line-ups
Hamburg: Drobny – G. Sakai, Djourou, Spahic, Ostrzolek – Kacar, Holtby – N. Müller, Hunt, Ilicevic – Lasogga
Absentees: Adler (suspended), Drmic (knee), Ekdal (thigh), Götz, Olic (both light training)
Coach: Bruno Labbadia
Bremen: Wiedwald – Gebre Selassie, Vestergaard, Djilobodji, Sternberg – Fritz, Grillitsch – S. Yatabare, Bartels – Junuzovic – Pizarro
Absentees: Wolf (hip), Bargfrede (knee), Johannsson (light training)
Prediction: Over 2.5 Both team Score
