Without a doubt, Union Berlin have made themselves at home in the Bundesliga in the last few seasons. The club from the German capital are looking to follow up last season’s comfortable 11th place finish with a top-six spot this season.
On Sunday, Urs Fischer’s team have a chance to enhance their European hopes when they welcome Hoffenheim to the Stadion An der Alten Forsterei.
Union Berlin head into the game just three points adrift of sixth-place, which would be enough to secure European football for next season. Finishing in the European spots would be a major achievement for Fischer and his team.
However, a poor recent run of form has dented Union’s dreams, as they recently suffered a five-game winless run in the German top-flight. A 1-0 win at Freiburg last time out should be a big boost as we enter an important stage of the Bundesliga campaign.
One of the factors for Union’s surprise top-six challenge is their results on home soil, as they have lost just one of their previous 15 home games in the Bundesliga. They are also on a run of ten games unbeaten at home in the German top-flight.
Hoffenheim would have ideally liked to have been in Union Berlin’s position of challenging for a European place this season. However, Sebastien Hoeness’ team are now ten points adrift of the top-six after an inconsistent campaign.
A somewhat surprising 2-0 home defeat by Norwegian team Molde in the Europa League last time out means that the visitors have now won just once in six outings in the German top-flight.
They have taken four points from their last two games in the Bundesliga, which is a run they will hope to build on in this clash.
Forebet predicts that Union Berlin will record a comfortable victory in a high-scoring encounter to maintain their dream of playing European football next season.