The women’s team of 1. FC Union Berlin will be looking to record their tenth win in a row this coming Sunday when, in their 24th game of the Regionalliga Nordost season, they welcome Bischofswerdaer FV to Dörpfeldstraße. Kick-off is at 14:00.
The opponents
Bischofswerdaer FV, who have been in the Regionalliga since 2017, are in 7th place in the table with 30 points after 23 match days. This means that the Saxons are free of any relegation worries and can gradually start planning for the coming season. Their comparative safety is certainly closely linked to the continuity and stability affoded them by their coaching staff. Tino Gottlöber has been heaqd-coach there since the women’s football department was founded in 2012.
Nevertheless, the last few weeks have been a somewhat bumpy ride for Bischofswerdaer FV. Having suffered conceded three defeats in a row in April, including bruising 9-0 home defeat against Viktoria Berlin, the team seemed to have got back to winning ways with their 5-1 win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena II. Last weekend, however, Bischofswerda suffered another surprising 5-0 defeat at relegation candidates Blau-Weiss Hohen Neuendorf.
One thing is sure, Union will do well to be wary of striker, Anna Salzmann, who has already scored 16 goals this season, putting the 28-year-old the fifth-best scorer in the league.
The head to head
The hosts will be out for revenge on Sunday, having lost 2-1 the last time the sides met, back in November, in what was only Union’s second defeat of the season. Despite taking the lead through Nour Youssef’s second half goal, the hosts turned the game on its head with two goals from set-pieces. They’ll need no better motivation going into this one.
That 2-1 loss was also the first meeting between the two teams that didn’t result in a win for Union, having won the previous six encounters. The last meeting in Dörpfeldstraße took place three and a half years ago, in October 2019, and ended with a 3-0 win for Union.
The coach’s views ahead of the game
“Bischofswerda showed in the first leg how dangerous they are, especially from their set-pieces,” said Union’s head coach, Ailien Poese in mid-week. “We want to be prepared for that and of course take revenge for the defeat last time around.”