Bremen and Twente both chase first win

SV Werder Bremen and FC Twente reconvene at the Weserstadion on Matchday 4 with both still seeking a first victory in Group A. The 1-1 draw on 20 October, former Twente forward Marko Arnautović scoring a late equaliser for Bremen, left both teams on two points, two behind second-placed Tottenham Hotspur FC.

• Bremen recorded a 4-1 win against Twente when the Dutch side visited in last season's UEFA Europa League round of 32.

Previous meetings
• Although Bremen lost to a Theo Janssen effort in the first leg of last term's UEFA Europa League tie, they hit Twente with three goals in the first 27 minutes of the return – two from Claudio Pizarro and the third from Naldo. Luuk de Jong (33) pulled a goal back before Pizarro (58) completed his hat-trick.

• The lineups for that 25 February contest were:
Bremen: Vander, Pasanen, Naldo, Mertesacker, Abdennour, Frings, Niemeyer (Bargfrede 58), Marin (Ayik 74), Özil (Borowski 83), Pizarro, Hugo Almeida.
Twente: Boschker, Stam (Kuiper 62), Wisgerhof, Douglas, Tiendalli, Brama, Pérez (Tioté 62), Janssen, Parker, De Jong, Ruiz (Vujičević 74).

Match background
• Bremen's home record against Eredivisie opposition reads three wins, two draws and one defeat. Last season's 4-1 defeat of Twente was their third successive win against Dutch visitors by a three-goal margin following defeats of AFC Ajax (3-0) and AZ Alkmaar (4-1) in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup.

• Twente recorded two draws and four defeats on their six previous matches in Germany. They have scored only one goal on German soil – De Jong's strike at Bremen in February.

• Twente lost to VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup semi-final, 3-0 away and 2-1 at home. Against the same opponents in the final of the same competition in 1974/75, a goalless first leg preceded a crushing 5-1 home defeat for Twente.

• Bremen are unbeaten in eight home matches in UEFA competition. They maintained that record by recovering a two-goal deficit to draw with Tottenham on Matchday 1.

• Twente, beaten 4-1 at Tottenham in their first Group A away game, won just one of six matches on the road in last season's UEFA Europa League, drawing three.

Team ties
• Thomas Schaaf never faced Dutch opposition as a player. He was on the bench for Bremen's 4-3 home defeat by Feyenoord in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, his last involvement in European competition before retiring.

• Twente coach Michel Preud'homme was in the SL Benfica side beaten 1-0 at 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League. He suffered a 2-1 home defeat by FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the 1977/78 UEFA Cup while at R. Standard de Liège, with whom he had aggregate wins against Kaiserslautern and 1. FC Dynamo Dresden in the 1980/81 UEFA Cup before a quarter-final defeat by 1. FC Köln. His KV Mechelen side beat Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals in 1988/89, while with Benfica he lost 4-1 at FC Bayern München in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup.

• Preud'homme was in goal for Belgium's 1-0 defeats home and away by Germany in 1992 UEFA European Championship qualifying and a 3-2 last-16 reverse at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

• Twente have twice had German coaches: Fritz Korbach (1983-86) and Hans Meyer (1996-99).

• As Austria captain, Twente's Marc Janko is a team-mate of Bremen's Sebastian Prödl and Arnautović.

• Nikolay Mihaylov scored an own goal in PFC Levski Sofia's 3-0 home group-stage defeat by Bremen on 31 October 2006.

• Arnautović played for Twente from 2007 to 2009. He made 44 Eredivisie appearances, all of his 12 goals coming in 2008/09. He spent last term on loan at Inter before joining Bremen.

• Petri Pasanen (Ajax 2000-04) and Daniel Jensen (SC Heerenveen 1998-2003) have also had spells in the Eredivisie.

• Janssen played in the BV Vitesse side that beat Bremen in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup second round.

• Rasmus Bengtsson suffered relegation from the Bundesliga with Hertha BSC Berlin in 2009/10.