Borussia Dortmund host Werder Bremen on Tuesday in the DFB-Pokal second round, seeking a third consecutive victory across competitions. Niko Kovac's side recently beat Eintracht Frankfurt with a late Maximilian Beier goal and progressed in European play via Serhou Guirassy's double. The fixture arrives before Dortmund travel to Bayern Munich in the coming week.
Bremen enter as cup specialists with six titles, though they have fallen at the Round of 16 stage in the last two seasons. The visitors impressed by recovering from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Dortmund after the international break, with Niclas Füllkrug scoring the equalizer. Füllkrug leads the Bundesliga scoring race with eight goals, all from open play except two penalties against Mainz.
Dortmund will be without Konstantinos Karetsas and Ramy Bensebaini due to suspension. Bremen's injury list includes Jens Stage, Justin Njinmah and Niklas Stark, though Daniel Thioune may rest some players including Füllkrug. The winner advances to the last 16 of the competition.
