1. FC Union Berlin will head to Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday looking to get back on form after two defeats in a row in the Bundesliga.
Review — The last match:
1. FC Union Berlin lost 0-3 at home to Borussia Dortmund last Sunday, but the Köpenick club showed a great reaction after the interval. Goals from Marco Reus put Marco Rose’s side ahead at the break in front of 10,000 fans at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Union returned after the half-time break and delivered a strong performance. Urs Fischer’s side passed up a lot of opportunities to peg Dortmund back and turn the game around. Raphael Guerreiro scored a third before Kevin Möhwald’s header was ruled out after consultation with the video assistant referee. Fischer was able to hand a debut to Sven Michel at the Alte Försterei, a first appearance for Andras Schäfer and 20 minutes to a returning Anthony Ujah.
Bielefeld — Opposition Report:
Patrick Wimmer picked up the DFL’s Rookie of the Month prize this week as he continues his fine form for Arminia Bielefeld. The Austrian has scored three goals and assisted six for Patrick Kramer’s team who are fighting to secure their Bundesliga status for another season. With 22 points, Bielefeld sit one spot above the play-off position, level on points with Augsburg. Both teams have a four-point cushion to second-from-bottom Stuttgart. The 0-2 loss at Hoffenheim last weekend was Bielefeld’s first defeat in six games with three wins and three draws in that period.
Bielefeld — The coach’s view:
Urs Fischer: “If you look at the last four matches, they’ve got two draws, won against Eintracht Frankfurt and lost against Hoffenheim. They are a very compact and well-organised team. They run a lot and try to provoke mistakes. They don’t give much away — 12 games and 13 goals conceded shows that. They have a good transition game and have a certain pace and can also play one-v-one. They play direct towards goal and are strong on second balls. It will be a really hard match.”
Personnel:
Rani Khedira is back from suspension but Robin Knoche misses out after reaching the yellow card threshold. All of Union’s quarantine absentees are back in full training. “It’s looking good,” said the Union head coach in the pre-match press conference.
Service:
Arminia Bielefeld have set aside 500 tickets for away supporters with a maximum 10,000 capacity limit. The same 2G Plus rules apply in Nordrhein-Westfalen as in Berlin with the same exceptions to the further test mandate in place.