Dortmund and Bremen drew 2-2 in the league a few weeks ago, and now they meet again in the cup with both coaches juggling the same problem: a short turnaround and a thin squad. The twist is where each side is thin. Bremen may rest the very player Kovac is worried about, while Dortmund lose a defender to suspension rather than injury. I'd watch whether the rotation hurts Bremen's set-piece threat more than Dortmund's patched back line hurts them.
Bremen first. Per Deichstube, Thioune has announced rotation after the trip to Mainz, and Niclas Füllkrug and Mitchell Weiser could be rested because of their injury histories. Left-back Olivier Deman is also doubtful after leaving the Mainz game at half-time. Our absence list already has Agu, Njinmah, Stage, N'Diaye, Stark and Alvero out, and Werder's own club page says Stark did not travel. Their league run has been goal-heavy (3-2 at Mainz, 2-2 with Paderborn, 2-2 at Dortmund), so even a rotated side tends to give and take goals.
Dortmund's side. Per Ruhr Nachrichten, Ramy Bensebaini serves the second and last game of his Supercup red-card ban, and bvb.de says Joane Gadou is expected to replace him. Our list has Can, Konstantelias, Lerma, Karetsas and Prates out as well, so the midfield is also stretched. Kovac, per Bulinews, called Füllkrug hard to keep quiet and dominant at set pieces, which is exactly why a rested Füllkrug changes how Dortmund's reshuffled defence will be tested.
So my question is whether the cup match is decided by who rests the right people, not who has the better league form. If Füllkrug starts, a stand-in left side for Dortmund faces its hardest job. If he sits, Bremen lose their clearest way to punish the gaps. Do you think Thioune risks him?
