Preview: Away trip to Bremen | OneFootball

Eintracht take on Werder Bremen on Friday evening in the first game of the second half of the season, eager for a maiden victory in 2026.

Backdrop

Eintracht Frankfurt are hoping it’s a case of third time lucky on Friday as they bid for their first win of 2026, having been held to a last-gasp 3-3 draw against Borussia Dortmund and then lost 3-2 at VfB Stuttgart. Taking into account the 1-1 draw away to Hamburger SV at the end of last year, it’s now three games without a win for the Eagles. They travel to the far north of Germany again on Friday, where their hosts and first opponents of the second half of the season are SV Werder Bremen. 

Board member for sport Markus Krösche and head coach Dino Toppmöller are not shying away from criticism, while also highlighting the team’s strengths. “You can see that we can play football and score goals, and that we’ve got individual quality,” said Krösche on Tuesday evening after the game in Stuttgart. “We need to be much better organised and more compact defensively, and we also need a much clearer structure when it comes to covering for each other.” 

“I made it very clear in the dressing room what I wasn’t happy with,” said Toppmöller. “Now we have to show a good reaction and finally reward ourselves with results for the huge effort we’re putting in.”

Werder have the same ambition, however, having endured an even longer wait for a win. After their first game of 2026 against TSG Hoffenheim was postponed due to adverse weather conditions, they suffered a 3-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday. That leaves Bremen without a league victory since beating VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 on 7 November, subsequently losing four and drawing two.  

Different workloads

As Bremen aren’t in European competition and were knocked out of the DFB Cup in the first round, they have only played 17 competitive matches so far this season, compared to Eintracht’s 25. 

Toppmöller can welcome Farès Chaibi back to the squad for this fixture though, the midfielder having helped Algeria go as far as the quarter-finals at the Africa Cup of Nations, where he started four games and scored once. 

Midfield options

What’s more, Mo Dahoud has had an impact from the bench in both of Eintracht’s games in 2026, scoring against Dortmund last Friday before setting up the team’s second goal to equalise at 2-2 in Stuttgart. Hugo Larsson missed that match but could return to defensive midfield here, with Nathaniel Brown and Can Uzun also comeback candidates. “We’re hoping to have the three players who were sidelined at short notice back on board on Friday,” said Toppmöller.

The coach will definitely be without Younes Ebnoutalib, though. The forward, who was substituted off after 20 minutes in Stuttgart, will undergo conservative treatment on a medial collateral ligament injury in his knee and will be absent for a number of weeks.  

Meanwhile, his strike partner Arnaud Kalimuendo was singled out for praise by Toppmöller: “He had a great game, worked his socks off up front and will be a real asset in the second half of the season.” There’s not long to wait for that, with kick-off on Friday at 20:30 CET at Bremen’s Weserstadion.