Heidenheim — Werder Bremen : Match Preview and Prediction for October 18,2025

Heidenheim’s Challenging Start

Heidenheim has had a very poor start to this season, suffering five defeats in their last six matches. Coach Frank Schmidt is understandably under pressure. However, the ‘red-blues’ are grappling with squad issues and a lack of depth, making their inaugural season’s 8th-place finish and qualification for the Conference League a happy but now distant and irrelevant memory.

Current Standings and Injury Update for Heidenheim

Currently, after a narrow 0-1 away loss to Stuttgart in a tough encounter, the ‘red-blues’ find themselves at the bottom of the table after six rounds, conceding nearly two goals per game on average. It remains to be seen if the hosts can delight their fans in this upcoming fixture, although their injury list has slightly shortened. Piringer, Konteh, Pakarada, Feller, and Beck are all set to miss the game against the ‘Musicians’.

Werder Bremen’s Consistent Form

A couple of seasons ago, Werder Bremen finished behind Heidenheim on additional metrics, landing in 9th place and missing out on the Conference League. Since then, the ‘red-blues” descent has been more rapid, while the ‘Musicians’ have managed to maintain their status as a mid-table team.

Managerial Change and Defensive Struggles

However, this season promises to be quite challenging. After four seasons with the club, Ole Werner departed for a promotion at Leipzig, and under Horst Steffen, the team has been considerably shaky. The ‘white-greens’ have conceded even more goals than Heidenheim (14 goals in 6 rounds), yet their offense, featuring Boniface and Mbangula, somewhat compensates for their defensive shortcomings.

Recent Results and Post-Break Outlook

Following a 0-3 home defeat to Freiburg and a 0-4 loss to Bayern in Munich, Werder managed to head into the break on a positive note, securing a 1-0 home victory against St. Pauli with a goal from Mbangula as early as the 2nd minute. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how the Bremen side will perform after the break, especially given their current squad issues.

Werder Bremen’s Extensive Injury List

Against Heidenheim, the visiting team will be without Agu, Deman, Schmidt, Stark, Weiser, and Weber, while Stage, Malatini, and Backhaus are all listed as questionable. Losing half the squad is certainly a significant setback.