To round off the 29th round of fixtures in the current Bundesliga season, 1. FC Union Berlin will travel to play Borussia Mönchengladbach with the aim of breaking the Foals’ recent run of five home league games without a loss (two wins, three draws).
The lie of the land
Union have been in third in the Bundesliga for four weeks now, and will be looking to defend their slender one-point lead over fourth this Sunday. So far Union have won 20 of their 52 points away from home, but a win in Mönchengladbach would set a new personal Bundesliga record for away points with 23.
Gladbach, on the other hand, have been stuck in tenth place in the table for seven matchdays, a situation that cannot change, no matter the result on Sunday. They are ahead of 1. FC Köln by four points, and could reduce their distance behind VfL Wolfsburg to a maximum of one point.
The opponents
Sometimes looking at the statistics doesn’t help. With two wins, four draws and two defeats each, both sides have recorded exactly ten points over the last eight games.
But Union should be especially vigilant in the opening period, because Jonas Hofmann has already scored five times this season in the first 15 minutes – a league best. However, leading means little to the Foals. Against Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia again squandered one for the seventh time this Bundesliga season, having lead through Hofmann’s opener up until the 83rd minute when Randal Kolo Muani, somewhat inevitably, equalised.
After the departure of Yann Sommer in January this year, the Foals signed their new number one Jonas Omlin. After initial teething troubles with only 55 percent of shots on goal saved, he has improved his record to a strong 92 per cent in the last three games.
The head to head
There have already been nine encounters between the sides since 2001, with Gladbach only managing to come away victorious in one friendly, and in Union’s first Bundesliga season. Union have won five, and drawn twice; and never has a match ended goalless. If you take the last three games, you can see a pattern (if you re-affirm your belief in stats again for moment). Three goals were scored each time. And the winner was always 1. FC Union Berlin.
The Reunion
Marvin Friedrich moved to the Lower-Rhine in January 2022 after four years at 1. FC Union Berlin. In 2019, he was one of Union’s promotion heroes and played a totla of 78 games for the side.
The personnel
Head coach Urs Fischer has the entire squad available for the away match on the Lower Rhine, with the exception of Paul Jaeckel, who is suspended, and Andras Schäfer who, though fit, is not match ready.
The coaches’ views ahead of the game
“If you take the last three games, they have only scored one goal against them and not lost any,” said a circumspect urs Fischer during his press conference on Friday lunchtime. “They are very compact, are good at switching the play, and they have the individual quality and speed to go one-on-one. Gladbach have shown in recent games that it will be a challenging task for us.”
At his press conference, meanwhile, Gladbach trainer Daniel Farke was full of praise for his guests. “1. FC Union Berlin consistently deliver good work, developing year after year. After 28 games, the Berliners are rightly in 3rd place. You know exactly what to expect against Union – but that doesn’t make the task any easier. In the last fixture we did well for a long time. So we know what we have to do. We have to take on the physicality and win the duels, that will be the key.”
Service info
A good 2,400 fans will accompany Union to Mönchengladbach on Sunday. Information on how to get there and for the stadium visit can be found here.
The match will be broadcast live on DAZN and, as usual, Union will also provide information on the match in the club’s own live ticker. In addition, there will be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and on rbb24.de.