Preview: 1. FC Union Berlin v. RB Leipzig

Stadion an der Alten Försterei, Berlin

Sunday, August 18

12:00 p.m. EDT, 18:00 CEST

• Referee: Markus Schmidt
• All-Time in All Competitions: 1 Union win, 2 Leipzig wins, 1 draw
• Union Berlin Last Season: 2. Bundesliga 3rd, 57 points, +23 GD, promoted via play-off
• RB Leipzig Last Season: Bundesliga 3rd, 66 points, +34 GD

Union Team News

Out: Hübner (knee/match fitness,) Abdullahi (match fitness)

• Since it was hard to follow the pre-season in the US (and I haven't seen a live minute of action since the final whistle of the promotion play-off,) I'm not really in a great position to predict what the XI is going to look like.
• Pretty sure Rafał Gikiewicz will be in goal, though... also, Christopher Trimmel at right back.
• Florian Hübner is still a doubt because he hasn't had much time in training, having injured his knee earlier in summer training (I believe in a collision with Grischa Prömel. Classic.) Urs Fischer confirmed this morning that Hübner is not available.
• Marvin Friedrich is available; he was not for the cup tie at Halberstadt, serving the delayed suspension from the red card he picked up conceding the penalty that lost the tie in Dortmund last year. I still think Pulisic went down too easily.
• To that end, it feels like Friedrich along with Neven Subotić makes the most sense as the center back pairing, though Keven Schlotterbeck did well enough last weekend. Fischer reminded everyone this morning that picking the center backs "isn't a lottery."
• The question was posed after my summer business recap as to which newcomer will slot into the starting XI the most quickly and I think the answer to that is going to be Christian Gentner in midfield.
• It looks like that will at the expense of Manuel Schmiedebach, rather than Prömel.
• But most line-up predictions out there have heavily included Marius Bülter, Sheraldo Becker, and Marcus Ingvartsen behind Sebastian Andersson.
• Suleiman Abdullahi, who missed the start of the pre-season with visa issues, is about two or so weeks behind.

Predicted XI: Gikiewicz, Trimmel, Subotić, Friedrich, Reichel, Gentner, Prömel, Bülter, Becker, Ingvartsen, Andersson.

Leipzig Team News

Out: Wolf (leg,) Adams (groin,) Upamecano (knee)

• Is it... strange... that all of Leipzig's injury absences are players acquired from other Red Bull clubs?
• Hannes Wolf, purchased from Salzburg, suffered a horror leg break while with Austria at the Under-21 Euros. Tyler Adams, who joined from New York in the winter window, missed the entire summer through a groin problem, which kept him out of the United States national team roster in the Gold Cup.
• Dayot Upamecano, the French center back acquired from Salzburg in 2017, is a strong doubt with a knee problem.
• Timo Werner, who I suppose I should note here was acquired from Stuttgart, will lead the line up front, even though he's itching for a transfer to Bayern and Bayern haven't really given any indication that they want him. Then again, their move for Leroy Sané was busted by his injury, so who knows? But, a reminder, Timo Werner doesn't like to play in loud places...

Union Last Season

• What more can be said about Union's season last year, as the club won their first ever promotion to post-reunification top flight German football? Well, I'll recap what I can...
• You may recall from last autumn that Union went through the Hinrunde unbeaten, while also drawing 247% of those matches. Sorry, it was actually 59%, I got carried away there.
• In the end, Union had a record of 11 wins, five draws, and only one loss at home compared to just three wins and four losses with 10 draws away from Alte Försterei.
• So, it should really have been no surprise that Union won their promotion through two draws with Stuttgart.

Leipzig Last Season

• Two years ago, RB Leipzig dropped to sixth in the Bundesliga, making last year a Europa League campaign, which went beyond the pale when they were drawn into the same group as Salzburg.
• So, there's some level of bizarre, inexplicable branding irony that Leipzig were knocked out of the tournament by losing twice to Salzburg on winning goals scored by a player who had previously had a failed loan spell at Red Bull New York.
• Domestically, Leipzig returned to form when the calendar rolled into 2019. After opening the Rückrunde with a loss to Dortmund, they didn't lose again until the final match of the regular season, a week before Bayern sank them 3-0 in the Pokal final.
• Ultimately, they coasted to a third place finish, well out of the title race but under little threat for Champions League qualification after their strong spring.

Match Facts

• Union and RB Leipzig have met on four prior occasions during Leipzig's two-season climb through the 2. Bundesliga.
• Leipzig have won half of those fixtures, but both of their wins were at home. They are winless in Berlin.
• Union Berlin won the first ever meeting between the clubs, 2-1 at Alte Försterei in September of 2014. Yussuf Poulsen had Leipzig's goal, sandwiched between an opener and a winner from Sebastian Polter, so this could very well happen again! The goals all came in 13-minute span late in the second half.
• The following season, Leipzig snatched a 1-1 draw in Berlin after an 83rd minute Michael Parensen own goal cancelled out Sören Brandy's opener.

The Referee

• The referee is Markus Schmidt, from Stuttgart.
• He's also the head of personnel for Stuttgart's S-Bahn!
• In 16 prior matches with Schmidt, Union have a record of 8 wins, 4 losses, and 4 draws.
• They haven't seen him since September of 2017, for an early season 5-0 home win over Kaiserslautern, before Union forgot how to win that year.
• Leipzig have seen Schmidt on four prior occasions: a 3. Liga loss to Osnabrück, a 2. Bundesliga win over Karlsruher, a Bundesliga loss to Ingolstadt, and a win last December over Gladbach. Wow, that's all over the place.

Around the Bundesliga

• Friday (night): Bayern München v. Hertha BSC; Allianz Arena, Munich
• Saturday: Borussia Dortmund v. Augsburg; Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund
• Saturday: Bayer 04 Leverkusen v. SC Paderborn 07; BayArena, Leverkusen
• Saturday: VfL Wolfsburg v. 1. FC Köln; Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg
• Saturday: Werder Bremen v. Fortuna Düsseldorf; Weserstadion, Bremen
• Saturday: SC Freiburg v. 1. FC Mainz 05; Schwarzwald-Stadion, Freiburg im Breisgau
• Saturday (late): Borussia Mönchengladbach v. FC Schalke 04; Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach
• Sunday (early): Eintracht Frankfurt v. 1899 Hoffenheim; Commerzbank-Arena; Frankfurt am Main

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John Painting is a contributing writer and co-founder of Eisern NYC. He can be found on Twitter @zorrocat.