Matches between the Black & Yellows and Green & Whites are usually entertaining encounters. In no other fixture in the history of the Bundesliga has the team that conceded the opening goal ended the game on the winning side more often (16 times). Only three of the 100 previous meetings have finished goalless, with the last 0-0 draw coming almost 18 years ago in February 2001. Here are the match facts.

The scenario: League leaders Borussia Dortmund, still the only team in the division yet to lose a game, face a Werder side whose points tally of 21 is almost double what they had at the same stage last season (11). Before the 2017/18 campaign, in which they only picked up one point across the two fixtures, BVB had won five in a row against Werder.

Home/away: The Black & Yellows have scored at least two goals in each of their home games and have won six of their seven matches in front of their own fans. Werder sit sixth in the away table and, while the Green & Whites have only won one of their last four away matches − a 2-0 victory in Gelsenkirchen at the end of October − they are tough to beat on the road, having only lost twice on their travels this term.

Personnel matters: Lucien Favre will issue an update on the personnel situation at his pre-match press conference at 12:45 CET (live on BVB TV).

Head-to-head record: BVB lost 2-1 to Werder at Signal Iduna Park last term, having previously beaten them in 10 consecutive home games. Borussia Dortmund have lost more games in which they led 1-0 to Werder than any other team, but they equally have more wins from being 1-0 down against Bremen than any other club (seven, most recently in 2016/17). Of the 11 penalties awarded at the Strobelallee, nine have been for Borussia. Marco Reus has more goals against Werder than any other side (11) and has 19 scorer points from 11 Bundesliga meetings.

Statistics: Borussia have scored the most goals (39), conceded the second-fewest (14) and have the best goal difference in the Bundesliga by some distance (+25). BVB have scored three or more goals in seven matches. Bremen have scored on every matchday and have netted a total of 24 times – almost three times as many as they had at the same stage last season (nine).

Biggest home win: The Westphalians have previously scored 159 goals against the northerners. Their biggest haul in one game came in a 5-0 home victory on 2 February 1980, with goals from Theo Schneider (two), Manfred Burgsmüller and Herbert Hein sealing the win.

Attendance: Signal Iduna Park is sold out with 81,365 fans attending. There will be 8,000 travelling fans from Bremen.

Referee: The appointment will be announced by the DFB late on Thursday afternoon.
Compiled by Boris Rupert

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