Union Berlin vs. Mainz preview: Die Eisernen start on home soil
Mainz face the capital club on Sunday in hopes of stealing a result at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on Matchday 1.
Union Berlin
The newest competitors of the Champions League invested heavily in their squad over the summer and brought in 10 new players. Even with all these fresh faces, the beloved Urs Fischer won’t be changing his ways.
As they did in their DFB-Pokal win over Astoria Walldorf, Union will likely continue with their back three of Leite, Knoche, and Doekhi. With several midfield injuries, Alex Kral should start in the middle of the park, but it’s unclear which other new signings will play from the off.
When asked if Robin Gosens and Kevin Volland will start, Fischer shared, "Both are candidates, I want to put it that way. - Robin has already shown his face in training. Above all, we are talking about mentality and leadership skills. And Kevin has a nose for the situations in the penalty area.”
Team News
Rani Khedira, Janik Haberer, Lucas Tousart, and Andras Schäfer won't be in the squad.
Mainz
Mainz narrowly beat 10-man Elversberg last week to narrowly scrape out a first round DFB-Pokal win. They’ll be hoping to rekindle some of last season’s rückrunde form that saw them rocket up the standings.
Ludovic Ajorque will undoubtedly lead the front line this weekend with Karim Onisiwo and Jae-sung Lee. New signings Sepp van den Berg and Tom Krauß didn’t start in the Pokal match, but should see some minutes off the bench.
Bo Svensson said, "Union have once again strengthened with some big names. They definitely haven't gotten worse compared to last season. Good players have arrived in the form of Gosens and Volland. However, Union's style of football is not going to change radically.”
Team News
Andreas Hanche-Olsen, Silvan Widmer, and Jonathan Burkardt are out.