Werder Bremen vs Heidenheim relegation battle live on July 2: TV listings, streaming info from 80+ countries

Topics: TV Schedules, Werder Bremen, Heidenheim, Bundesliga, 2.Bundesliga

The first leg of the relegation-promotion battle featuring Werder Bremen vs Heidenheim will be played on Thursday, July 2nd. Live Soccer TV's match preview provides team news, global broadcast listings, and match facts for Werder Bremen vs Heidenheim.

Preview: Werder Bremen vs Heidenheim

Florian Kohfeldt's men literally had to wait until the final day to find out whether they remained in the top flight, and even then, their fate wasn't entirely in their hands. However, a 6-1 win for Werder Bremen over Köln, compounded with Fortuna Düsseldorf's 3-0 loss to Union Berlin, was enough to ensure that Bremen secured 16th place and thus now have a life-line to remain afloat in the top tier for another season.

That is, if they can survive a two-legged play-off against upcoming opponents Heidenheim. Although Frank Schmidt's side come into this match having lost 3-0 to 2.Bundesliga winners Arminia Bielefeld last weekend, they also were given a major break in securing a play-off spot with Hannover, who sat in fourth spot, also happening to slip-up on the final matchday. Had that not happened, Heidenheim wouldn't be in the play-offs, as they narrowly slipped into third place by just one point.

Heidenheim now will be looking to go one step further and break into the top flight for the first time in their club's history, but now will have to face a Bremen side who, after narrowly just avoiding the drop, will certainly not be willing to be demoted without a fight. Bremen scored six goals during their rout over Cologne - which is one-seventh of their entire total (42 goals) in the entire 34-season campaign. In addition, prior to their 6-1 win over Köln on the final matchday of the regular season, they had won just one home game all term and had scored just nine times on home turf.

That being said, the duo of Milot Rashica and Yuya Osako have been directly involved in 23 of the 42 goals scored by die Grün-Weißen during the regular 34-game season, with Rashica contributing 13 (eight goals, five assists) while Osako has added eight goals of his own plus two assists. Still, their upcoming opponents are no slouches, either. They've scored 45 goals so far in the regular season, but what's especially noteworthy is the 36 goals they conceded during the 2.Bundesliga campaign, which was the second best defensive record in the division. What will be a major concern, though, is their poor away record, which has seen them win just four times in their travels all term, and they have already lost 4-1 to Werder Bremen earlier this season.

Team news: Werder Bremen vs Heidenheim

Werder Bremen: Kevin Vogt is banned for this first leg due to an accumulation of too many yellow cards. In addition, both Kevin Möhwald and Nuri Sahin are out injured with knee and hip problems, with Sahin highly unlikely to be fit in time for the first leg. Finally, although he returned to light training after slowly recovering from a thigh injury, Sebastian Langkamp is a major doubt for this game, and at best, may make the bench if he passes a late fitness test.

Heidenheim: Both Maximilian Thiel and Arne Feick are struggling with knee injuries; however, Thiel is a definite absentee for this match. Meanwhile, defender Oliver Hüsing is also still on the treatment table following an ankle injury.

Match facts: Werder Bremen vs Heidenheim

Heidenheim have never featured in the German top flight in their club's history
Bremen's 6-1 won over Köln was only their second home win all season (D3 L12)
Die Grün-Weißen defeated Heidenheim earlier this campaign, 4-1 in the DFB-Pokal second round last October
Heidenheim had the second best defensive record in the 2.Bundesliga this season (36 goals conceded)...
...however, they've only won four times away from home all season