Borussia Dortmund – Werder Bremen: Dortmund Grind Out Another Win To Temporarily Go Top Again (1-0)

Two underwhelming Bundesliga teams met to resume the season after the men's international break as Borussia Dortmund took on Werder Bremen. Dortmund once again got the job done despite yet another display that involved a disappointing first half performance, temporarily returning to the top of the table.

Tactical analysis and match report by Neel Shelat.

As we have outlined in our previous analyses of Borussia Dortmund, last season’s runners-up have been some way off their best even though their results are not all that bad. Manager Edin Terzić has often got things wrong from a tactical perspective at the start of matches, whilst none of the players seem to have hit the levels they did last year and some departures (such as that of Jude Bellingham) seem to have weakened them too. All in all, Dortmund have some convincing to do if they want to be taken seriously in the title race conversation this term.

Of course, there are no such expectations of Werder Bremen, but the hope for them was that they might have been able to kick on a bit after their 13th-placed finish as a newly-promoted side last term. Ole Werner’s reputation as a coach at Holstein Kiel was that of an overachiever, so leading Werder to challenge for a top-half finish would not have been out of character. Instead, they have looked much likelier to be embroiled in a relegation battle so far this season.

As ever, Borussia Dortmund lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Gregor Kobel started in . . .