Top table clash

It's a testament to how Werder Bremen play and entertain that they're consistently praised as the most attractive Bundesliga team to watch. Their almost carefree dedication to attacking soccer may also be the reason why they are regularly considered as a potentially championship-winning side, despite the fact their last Bundesliga title came five years ago.

Watching Bremen with their tails up, thumping five goals past some mediocre team in the early throes of a German winter can warm the heart and distract from the fact that they probably suffered a tense 1-0 defeat to a team slightly above them in the title race the week before. There may be excitement aplenty, an avalanche of goals and the sight of Thorsten Frings pumping his tattooed arms in celebration, but away from the theater, Werder Bremen often flatter to deceive.

Unlike Schalke 04, of course. Anyone with a modicum of Bundesliga knowledge will know that it doesn't matter who the coach is, how motivated the team may be and how many goals Kevin Kuranyi scores, because when it comes to the end of the season, the end-product will be the same: Schalke will shuffle off empty-handed. Again. There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Schalke blowing the Bundesliga.

Just as people get excited about the possibility of Werder Bremen winning the league when they go on a barn-storming run, thereby striking a blow for what's left of the game formerly known as beautiful, so most people will know that they need to be cautiously pessimistic when Schalke gets near the top of the table.

Werder need to take consistency to next level

Bremen currently sit in second place, causing the purists to salivate over the possibility of the title moving a few kilometers north from its current residency in Wolfsburg. Werder seem to have found a level of consistency this season which has kept them in the top three for the past five weeks. A glance at last season's table shows that they achieved a level of consistency before the winter break and maintained it until the season's end. The main difference being that they were stuck in tenth place at the time, not second.

Managing to remain in second beyond the winter break will of course get the juices flowing ever juicier as the season reaches its conclusion but questions have to be asked whether Werder can not only keep up with the team in first place – currently Bayer Leverkusen – but find the form to push on and improve their position. Confidence must be high as they haven't lost since the opening game of the season but draws with the likes of Cologne, Nuremberg and Hanover have prevented Bremen from collecting the points which could have taken them above Leverkusen.

Magath steadies the Schalke ship but hits the odd rock

Schalke sit behind Bremen in third, separated from second place on goal difference only and three points from the summit. At the moment, Schalke are breathing easy. The oxygen in third fits their current approach under Felix Magath and as yet they haven't felt the dizzying effects of vertigo they normally suffer when approaching the summit. The driven Magath has given the Gelsenkirchen team a new level of fitness and durability which has seen them recover from a rollercoaster start to the season before leveling out in third.

Magath may have done much so far to eradicate the traditional Schalke trait of going missing when hit by a loss of form but he has yet to find the formula to stop his team of Royal Blues from wobbling between the sublime and the ridiculous. Schalke's early defeats could have led to a crisis of confidence followed by a nosedive but Magath steadied the ship and steered it back up the table. He hasn't been able to totally avoid the rocks though, as the recent defeat to Borussia Moenchengladbach showed.

Top clash will show clubs what they're made of

Schalke's next test of mettle comes on Saturday when they travel north to Bremen. Following last week's 2-0 defeat of Hertha Berlin, the Royal Blues could arrive at the Weserstadion with a confident swagger. But Werder aren't Berlin as the 16 league positions between them can attest. A win is a win, however, and Schalke will certainly hope to build on the victory over Hertha and will look to last season's record against Bremen as an extra incentive. Schalke beat Werder 1-0 at the Veltins Arena and then held the hosts to a 1-1 draw in Bremen. They may not want to think about their trip to Bremen in 2008, however. Werder thrashed them 5-1.

A win for Schalke will move them into a position where the air is a little thinner and Felix Magath will need all his leadership qualities to keep Schalke from losing their heads as past incarnations of the club have done in previous seasons of promise.

Bremen will be looking to close the gap on Leverkusen and put the skids under Schalke's challenge. The Northerners could welcome back striker Claudio Pizarro after a more than six-week injury lay-off, and could name the returning midfielder Mesut Ozil, striker Aaron Hunt and defender Dusko Tosic in the squad. They could be at almost full-strength for a game which may indicate whether Werder Bremen will just be an entertaining challenger this season or a worthy champion.

Author: Nick Amies
Editor: Ranty Islam