Union Berlin vs. Borussia Dortmund preview: BVB in need of a victory
Borussia Dortmund will attempt to return to winning ways when they face Union Berlin at Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
| Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0 |
Union Berlin
Union head into the weekend in a confident mood, having avoided defeat in all four of their competitive matches. They began that run of form with a draw against Mainz, before they went on to record consecutive victories against Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim.
Union missed the opportunity to pick up a third straight win in last Saturday’s home meeting with Heidenheim. Robin Gosens and András Schäfer grabbed a goal apiece to put Union in front after Nikola Dovedan had opened the scoring. However, Jan-Niklas Beste went on to net a 71st-minute equaliser to ensure Union had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Despite missing out on maximum points, the 2-2 draw helped Union eke out the gap to the bottom three to eight points. Nenad Bjelica’s side will now return to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, where they have avoided defeat in each of their last six home matches. Impressively, Union have recorded clean sheets in three of their previous four home outings.
Team News
Robin Gosens will serve a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the Bundesliga season in the draw with Heidenheim.
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund have gone three consecutive matches without a win since beating Freiburg 2-0 earlier this month. They played out draws against Wolfsburg and PSV Eindhoven in the league and Champions League respectively, before they fell to a 3-2 defeat in last Sunday’s home meeting with Hoffenheim.
Die Schwarzgelben came from behind to take the lead thanks to goals from Donyell Malen and Nico Schlotterbeck. However, Edin Terzic’s side were ultimately left empty-handed after Maximilian Beier netted a quick-fire brace to condemn Dortmund to their first defeat since December.
Despite losing to Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side, Dortmund remain in fourth position and one point clear of fifth-placed RB Leipzig. Although they will be looking to claim all three points on Saturday, the visitors have found wins hard to come by on the road, having won just two of their last eight away league matches. They will at least fancy their chances of producing a strong defensive display after recording three shutouts across their previous four away games in the top flight.
Team News
The visitors are unable to call upon the services of Gregor Kobel, Samuel Bamba, Felix Nmecha and Sebastien Haller due to injury. Meanwhile, Malen is suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards.
