Preview: SV Sandhausen v. 1. FC Union Berlin

BWT-Stadion am Hardtwald, Sandhausen

Sunday, September 2

7:30 a.m. EDT, 13:30 CEST

• Referee: Timo Gerach
• This Match, Last Year: Sandhausen 1 - 0 Union
• All-Time in All Competitions: 7 Union wins, 4 Sandhausen wins, 3 draws
• Union's League Form: L-W-W // W-D-W
• Sandhausen's League Form:  L-L-W // L-L-L

Grischa Prömel celebrates
scoring the opener last week.

The second division can get really tricky if you continually play to the level of your opponents. Of course, if it's anything like last season, then almost every fixture becomes evenly matched

It can certainly be said that Union have played to the level of their opponents so far this season, but in that way, they have ground out the necessary results and sit at the top of the table. Sure, they left it late against Aue and let Jena hang in the Pokal tie a little too long. But they also snatched a difficult point from Köln in what felt like a heavyweight bout and controlled play against a St. Pauli side that had six points from six in the league before they visited Berlin.

But now, if Union are still going to play to the level of their opponents, then Sandhausen away represents a tricky match. Sure, Sandhausen are winless and next to last in the table, but it's still a place where Union have only won once.

Gritty road points at Köln are one thing, but regularly being able to pick up points on your travels against the teams you're supposed to beat is what separates the promotion candidates from the mid-table finishers, especially when they are played at a juncture in the season where those teams are not fighting for their lives just yet. Even title winners Düsseldorf lost at Fürth, Darmstadt, and Heidenheim last year, at times when those clubs were 16th or worse in the table.

Things look optimistic for Union right now, but the manner in which this Sunday's match plays out will go a long way to determine just how reasonable that optimism may be. Well, as much as a match on September 2 can, anyway.

Team News

Out: Polter (Achilles,) Schönheim (knee)
Doubts: Abdullahi (ankle)

Polter is shown here back in training,
even though I was pretty sure he had
already been back in training. Maybe not,
you know, full training, though.

The club announced on Wednesday that both Sebastian Polter and Fabian Schönheim were back in full training, but are probably both still in a position where the only time you'll see them during the match is when the video cameras show them in the crowd. New acquisition Suleiman Abdullahi has been in training as well and I've finally seen reference to his injury as being to his ankle, with Transfermarkt listing a return of mid-September.

After Union's solid performance against St. Pauli last week, it's hard to see Urs Fischer having the impetus or desire to make any changes to the starting XI, unless someone needs to pull out through injury or illness of some sort. Why fix what isn't broken?

Urs Fischer had his press conference this morning, but I haven't seen any written quotes from it, in either English or German. I watched it German, which means, at my level, I got the gist of small portions of it but literally zero important details.

Before jumping to the XI, and while we're still talking team news, it's worth mentioning that this morning, as the transfer window comes to a close, the club has sent Lars Dietz out on loan to Sportfreunde Lotte. Dietz joined Union during the January window from Borussia Dortmund.

Predicted XI: Gikiewicz, Trimmel, Friedrich, Hübner, Reichel, Schmiedebach, Prömel, Kroos, Gogia, Hedlund, Andersson.

Sandhausen are without Nejmeddin Daghfous and Karim Guédé for the long term with knee ligament injuries. Tim Knipping is out as is handsome Icelandic man Rúrik Gíslason, who has a fractured ankle.

Current Form

Sandhausen lost 1-0 to Bochum last week.

Two teams going in opposite directions face off this weekend, as unbeaten Union face winless Sandhausen. The hosts avoid the bottom of the table thanks to the fact that they've scored a goal and Duisburg have not, even though both have identical -6 goal differences. Union, as mentioned, sit joint-top with Köln, exactly tied in all metrics, including "red-and-whitest color scheme."

While you're well aware of Union's unbeaten start, let's talk about Sandhausen, who opened up their season by taking a 1-0 lead against Greuther Fürth, then allowing Fürth to come from behind and win 3-1. Since then, they've fallen 3-0 to Hamburg at home (not totally unexpected) then lost at Bochum last Friday night.

Last season, Sandhausen finished 11th in the table, just three points clear of relegation, but they conceded only 33 goals, the fewest in the zweite Liga. Through three matches this season, they've already conceded seven, the most in the division.

Match Facts

Union lost this fixture in their third
kits last year.

All-time, Union have slightly had the better of Sandhausen, winning seven of the 14 matches  played between the two teams, plus three draws. However, much of that luck has come at Alte Försterei, were the hosts have won six of the seven matches played. In Sandhausen, Union have won only once in seven attempts, losing four and drawing two.

Last year's trip to Sandhausen ended in defeat on a Monday night in mid-September, on matchday 7, as Leart Paqarada's 55th minute goal was the difference in a 1-0 victory for the hosts. Union won the return fixture in Berlin, 2-1 in February, as Union jumped out to a 2-0 lead within 20 minutes; Sandhausen scored three minutes after the restart but could not find an equalizer, unlike most other teams Union played around that time last year...

Union's only victory in Sandhausen came two years ago, in late November, as a 12th minute Felix Kroos goal gave Union a 1-0 victory.

The Referee

I assume this was after Darmstadt
got their penalty...

The referee is Timo Gerach, from Landau. Union had Gerach twice last season and failed to win either match. First, Gerach was in the middle at Alte Försterei in late November when Union blew a lead against Darmstadt, then fell behind only to equalize at the death to escape with a 3-3 draw; he awarded both sides penalties during that wild second half. He was also the referee in early April when Union went to relegation threatened Fürth and lost 2-1.

In five matches all-time with Gerach, Union have only won once, 2-0 in Berlin over 1860 Munich in February 2017. They've lost twice (Fürth last year and a 2015 first round cup tie at Viktoria Köln) and drawn twice (3-3 with Darmstadt last year and 4-4 at Bielefeld in August 2016.) So, if this one starts to get high scoring, it'll end tied, apparently.

Sandhausen also saw Gerach twice last season, winning 4-0 at Dresden in August while drawing 1-1 at home with Darmstadt in April. All-time, Sandhausen have never lost with Gerach, winning three and drawing three, but there's a first time for everything, right?

Gerach has not yet worked a 2. Bundesliga match this season, but he did a 3. Liga draw between Braunschweig and Zwickau and, perhaps more notably, was the man in the middle for the DFB-Pokal tie that saw the holders Eintracht Frankfurt lose at Ulm.

But, perhaps most relevant of all, Gerach was born two days after me!

Okay, fine, that's not relevant at all...

Around the League

• Friday: FC Ingolstadt 04 v. Erzgebirge Aue; Audi Sportpark, Ingolstadt
• Friday: SC Paderborn 07 v. VfL Bochum; Benteler-Arena, Paderborn
• Saturday: Arminia Bielefeld v. SSV Jahn Regensburg; SchücoArena, Bielefeld
• Saturday: MSV Duisburg v. SpVgg Greuther Fürth; Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, Duisburg
• Saturday: Dynamo Dresden v. Hamburger SV; DDV-Stadion, Dresden
• Sunday: FC St. Pauli v. 1. FC Köln; Millerntor-Stadion, Hamburg
• Sunday: 1. FC Heidenheim v. SV Darmstadt 98; Voith-Arena, Heidenheim
• Monday: Holstein Kiel v. 1. FC Magdeburg; Holstein-Stadion, Kiel