Union Berlin vs Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund will be desperate to bounce back from last weekend’s horror and retain their faint hopes of claiming the Bundesliga title when they take on top-half Union Berlin at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

Union Berlin’s hopes of securing back-to-back European finishes suffered a setback last time out as they fell to a 2-0 defeat away to Augsburg, ending a run of five Bundesliga matches without losing (W3, D2). Despite entering this round as underdogs, the home side will draw confidence from beating Dortmund in both previous top-flight H2Hs at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Moreover, ‘Die Eisernen’ have only lost one of their ten Bundesliga home fixtures this season (W6, D3), courtesy of a 5-2 demolition at the hands of Bayern Munich in late December. Since then, Urs Fischer’s men have racked up three wins from four home league outings (D1). But entertainment has been relatively sparse on Union’s home ground this term, with an average of 2.3 goals scored/conceded per home game representing the league-low.

On the other hand, injury-ravaged Borussia Dortmund succumbed to an embarrassing 5-2 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen last time out, losing precious ground on table-topping Bayern in the process. Encouragingly, though, ‘Die Borussen’ had clocked up a three-game winning league streak beforehand, netting 3+ goals on each occasion (3.66 on average). Particularly lethal late in the game, Marco Rose’s men have registered a league-high 14 goals beyond the 75th minute this term. Worryingly, though, the visitors have conceded a staggering 13 goals across their last five Bundesliga fixtures. Topically, Dortmund head into proceedings as one of just four Bundesliga sides yet to keep a clean sheet on the road this season, having conceded an average of 1.8 goals across their ten league travels so far.