Sitting third in the Bundesliga, just three points behind leaders VfL Wolfsburg, Marco Rose’s Borussia Dortmund will be confident when they welcome Union Berlin to Signal Iduna Park this weekend following an impressive 2-1 win against Beşiktaş in the opening round of the Champions League on Wednesday. Union Berlin have also had a positive opening to the 2021/22 campaign after going unbeaten in their first four matches, leaving them eighth in the league table.

Dortmund will be happy that the transfer window has closed, due to all the rumours regarding Haaland having circulated over the summer. Rose will hope that his squad will be able to maintain their good form, as they bid to rival Bayern Munich for the title this season.

Union will be looking to reprise their strong, defensive start to the season, after losing 3-1 to Slavia Prague in the Europa Conference League earlier this week. The German side were down to ten men in the first half after Paul Jaeckel was sent off, before later conceding twice in the last six minutes of the game, disappointing manager Urs Fischer.

Team news

Borussia Dortmund - Out: Brandt (muscular), Can (thigh), Coulibaly (knee), Hazard (ankle), Morey (knee), Reyna (thigh), Schmelzer (knee), Tigges (thigh) - Doubtful: Schulz (thigh), Zagadou (knee)

Union Berlin - Out: None - Doubtful: Möhwald (thigh)

Predicted lineups

Borussia Dortmund: Kobel - Meunier, Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro - Bellingham, Witsel, Dahoud - Reus (c) - Haaland, Malen

Union Berlin: Luthe - Friedrich, Knoche, Baumgartl - Trimmel (c), Haraguchi, Khedira, Gießelmann - Öztunali - Kruse, Awoniyi

Form guide (league)

Dortmund: WWLW – Last game: 4-3 win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Union: DDWD – Last game: 0-0 against FC Augsburg

Ones to watch

Embed from Getty Images

Erling Haaland has been one of the most highly sought-after players in European football for the past year. His outstanding goalscoring ability has been crucial to Dortmund, with the Norweigan striker having totalled five goals in his first four league games this season. Dortmund are the joint-top goal scorers in the Bundesliga, with Haaland playing an instrumental part in this.

Embed from Getty Images

Taiwo Awoniyi has taken over the goalscoring role from Max Kruse this year, hitting the back of the net three times in his first four Bundesliga games this season. The Nigerian attacker joined Union Berlin on a permanent deal this summer in a £6.5m transfer, which saw him rejoin the club after spending the 2020/21 season on loan with them.

Previous meetings

In their first meeting of the 2020/21 season, Union Berlin were victorious in a 2-1 home win against Dortmund. Taiwo Awoniyi opened up the scoring in the 57th minute, before 16-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko levelled the game three minutes later. Marvin Friedrich clinched three points for Union Berlin after scoring the winning goal in the 78th minute.

However, Borussia Dortmund were able to get their revenge in the return fixture with a comfortable 2-0 win. Marco Reus opened the scoring in the 27th minute, whilst Raphaël Guerreiro closed the game with a goal in the 88th minute.

Where to watch on TV

Unfortunately, Dortmund vs Union Berlin (16:30 kick-off time) will not be shown live on TV in the UK. However, ESPN+ will be broadcasting the game for its US audience.

VAVEL Logo
About the author