Borussia Dortmund will look to get back to winning ways when they travel to the capital to face Urs Fischer’s Union Berlin in the 22nd round of the 2021/22 Bundesliga season.
Venue: Stadion An der Alten Försterei (Berlin)
Key Statistics
Union Berlin have won both their home meetings with Dortmund in the Bundesliga. They are the only club BVB have never won away at in the Bundesliga.
Christopher Trimmel is in line for his 79th Bundesliga appearance with Die Eisernen, making him the club’s outright record appearance holder in the top flight ahead of Marvin Friedrich. He’s fourth in all competitions with 254 games.
This term, Taiwo Awoniyi is Union’s top scorer, with nine goals from 18 appearances. He also scored in last season’s victory over Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund have conceded 36 goals already this season, which is their worst return after 21 games since 2007/08. 13 teams in the division have shipped fewer goals than Borussia Dortmund.
Erling Haaland has won all three of his games against Union in the Bundesliga, scoring four times. He has not scored more against any other team in the German top flight.
The visitors have not kept an away clean sheet in their last 14 games.
Head to head
Borussia Dortmund holds the clear advantage in eight head-to-head encounters between the two sides. They have won six games and lost two.
Latest performances in all competitions
Union Berlin: L-D-W-W-W
Dortmund: L-W-L-W-W
Union Berlin
Champions League hopefuls Union Berlin will look to get back to winning ways when they welcome BVB to Försterei on Sunday.
Urs Fischer’s side were dealt a huge blow in their quest for a top-four finish as they were defeated by Markus Weinzierl’s Augsburg last time out. Goals from Austrian attacker Michael Gregoritsch and veteran forward Andre Hahn sealed the deal for Augsburg and handed Union their first league loss in five games.
They come into this tie sitting in fifth, level on points with RB Leipzig but with a game advantage. A win in this game will put them back into the top four, while a loss here, and a win for Freiburg in their game against Mainz will push them down the table.
They will be hoping to avoid a loss and pick up another famous home win against BVB, who they have won in each of their last two home games (2-1 and 3-1). Despite this good record, they are yet to claim three consecutive home victories against an opponent in the top flight.
Possible Union Berlin starting line-up
Andreas Luthe, Timo Baumgartl, Robin Knoche, Dominique Heintz, Christopher Trimmel, Sheraldo Becker, Levin Oztunali, Genki Haraguchi, Bastian Oczipka, Taiwo Awoniyi, Andreas Voglsammer.
Injured: Laurenz Dehl
Doubtful: Julian Ryerson, Grischa Promel
Suspended: Rani Khedira
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund’s title chances were dealt a huge blow on Sunday night as they were emphatically beaten by Gerardo Seoane’s Bayer Leverkusen in the league.
The visitors lost 5-2 in the game thanks to an own goal from Swiss centre-back Manuel Akanji and further goals from young star Florian Wirtz, midfielder Robert Andrich, centre-back Jonathan Tah and French winger Moussa Diaby.
An own goal from Dutch right-back Jeremie Frimpong and a late second-half goal from forward Steffen Tigges proved to be a mere consolation for Borussia Dortmund, who now trail Bayern Munich by nine points as a result.
They must now return to winning ways if they’re to maintain any hope of beating the defending champions to the title.
However, with a defence that has conceded 2+ goals in four of their last five league matches (W3, L2), Dortmund do not look like they are ready to push for the title.
Unless they can patch up their leaky defence and stay more consistent, it would not be long before their place among the top four is threatened. They are currently just five points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen in the third and nine ahead of RB Leipzig and Union Berlin in the fourth and fifth.
Possible Dortmund starting line-up
Gregor Kobel, Thomas Meunier, Manuel Akanji, Mats Hummels, Raphael Guerreiro, Julian Brandt, Mahmoud Dahoud, Jude Bellingham, Marco Reus, Donyell Malen, Thorgan Hazard.
Injured: Emre Can, Mateu Morey
Doubtful: Marcel Schmelzer, Erling Braut Haaland
Suspended: None
Prediction
Union Berlin 1-2 BVB
