Werder confident despite hat-trick of defeats

Werder Bremen are confident normal service will be resumed at home to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga tomorrow following a desperate run of three defeats.

Since winning their opening two league games, Werder have lost 2-0 to Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, 4-2 on penalties to amateurs FK Pirmasens in the German Cup and 2-0 at Chelsea in the Champions League.

Werder were awful in the first two of those defeats but they caused Chelsea problems and if Miroslav Klose had enjoyed a bit more luck they might have caused an upset.

As it is, they will look to take out their frustration on Stuttgart, who have three points from their opening three games and lie in 15th place.

"I think if we were in some kind of crisis you'd have seen us getting blown away by Chelsea," Werder midfielder Tim Borowski said. "That wasn't the case. Everyone could see that we were able to match them and at times we were the better team."

Werder are just a point off the lead in the Bundesliga, with not even Bayern Munich boasting a 100 per cent record after three matches.

Bayern, who are level at the top on seven points with Nuremberg and Schalke, are at Arminia Bielefeld.

The biggest dilemma for coach Felix Magath will be the make-up of his forward line, after Claudio Pizarro and Roque Santa Cruz both scored in a 4-0 win over Spartak Moscow in the Champions League. Those goals could see Lukas Podolski and Roy Makaay start on the bench.

The weekend programme starts today when Wolfsburg host Hanover.

Weekend Programme

Today - 8.30 p.m. Wolfsburg vs Hanover. Tomorrow - 3.30 p.m. Nuremberg vs Bochum; A. Aachen vs B. M'gladbach; A. Bielefeld vs B. Munich; B. Dortmund vs Hamburg; E. Cottbus vs Mainz; W. Bremen vs Stuttgart.

Sunday - 5 p.m. E. Frankfurt vs B. Leverkusen; H. Berlin vs Schalke 04.