Borussia Dortmund – Werder Bremen

Recent form · Written before the match

Dortmund are coming off two wins, 1-0 against Frankfurt on 24 October at home and 2-1 at Sabah FK on 20 October in the Champions League, after a 0-0 draw at Union Berlin on 17 October and a 2-2 draw against Werder on 9 October. Werder won 3-2 at Mainz on 24 October, drew 2-2 at Dortmund on 9 October and won 3-0 at Lüneburger SK Hansa in the first round of the Pokal on 22 August.

The quality of the chances is not comparable here: no verifiable xG valeur is available. Dortmund must also contend with a heavy schedule.

Head-to-head · Written before the match

The documented recent meetings are Dortmund 2-2 Werder in the Bundesliga on 9 October 2026, Werder 3-2 Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal round of 16 in February 2020, then Dortmund 4-1 Werder in the DFB-Pokal final on 24 June 1989. The 9 October match is the most relevant because it is recent and involves the same coaches as well as some of the same squads, but it remains limited by the difference in competition, the non-identical lineups and Dortmund's management of a 2-0 lead.

The 2020 and 1989 matches have low prédictive valeur.

Absences and returns

For Dortmund, Ramy Bensebaini is suspended. Konstantinos Karetsas, Emre Can, Giannis Konstantelias and Justin Lerma are announced unavailable.

Carney Chukwuemeka is fit after workload management. Alexander Meyer is highly doubtful due to illness, and the goalkeeper expected to replace him had not been identified.

For Werder, the full list of absentees, the starting goalkeeper and the doubtful starters had not been officially established.

Context & news

The match is the second round of the DFB-Pokal 2026/27, on 27 October 2026 at 19:45 UTC at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, with Dortmund hosting on neutral ground. Qualification for the round of 16 is at stake.

Dortmund scenario: BVB controls possession, pins Werder in its own half and takes advantage of the pitch as well as a prepared organization to replace Bensebaini. Werder scenario: fatigue reduces pressing and the quality of cover after possession is lost; the wide players, crosses and attacks into the box then reproduce the comeback observed in the 2-2 draw on 9 October.