Aiming to confirm their status as a top-flight club for another season, Union Berlin will host Stuttgart in the Bundesliga at Stadion An der Alten Forsterei on Saturday evening.
Die Eisernen picked up a respectable point at the German champions last time out, whilst Die Roten suffered a sobering defeat on home soil to Werder Bremen.
Match preview
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Rising from Bundesliga 2 to the heights of the Champions League over the past five years, Union Berlin have experienced somewhat of a low-key campaign in the top flight of German football during 2024-25, with Saturday's hosts on course for a comfortable mid-table finish.
Since a shock 1-0 defeat to relegation-threatened Holstein Kiel on March 2, Die Eisernen have steadied the ship massively as their campaign draws to a close, enjoying a five-game unbeaten streak in the Bundesliga, a spell which includes away victories over Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg.
There was also a memorable away performance from Union Berlin last weekend, when the plucky visitors and German champions Bayer Leverkusen shared the points at BayArena, reducing Xabi Alonso's chances of bridging the gap between his side and league-leading Bayern Munich.
Collecting 11 points from their last five matches, Die Eisernen have moved firmly away from any danger near the foot of the Bundesliga table and currently occupy 13th position, a mammoth 12 points ahead of Heidenheim, who are sat in the relegation playoff spot at this stage.
The red side of the German capital has seen little goalmouth action this term, with Union Berlin the second-lowest scorers across home matches in the Bundesliga, whilst having the second-best defence at home in the top flight, meaning that a tightly-fought affair should be expected on Saturday evening.
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Returning to the Champions League for the first time since 2009-10, Stuttgart have taken their eye off the ball on the Bundesliga front this season, with Saturday afternoon's visitors to Berlin on the verge of missing out on European football all together ahead of next term.
A run of one win across their last eight Bundesliga matches has seen Die Roten plummet down the top-flight rankings to a lowly 11th with five games left to play of the regular season, five points behind sixth-placed Freiburg, who are currently holding onto a Europa League berth.
Stuttgart's 11th league defeat of the term arrived at MHP Arena on Sunday afternoon, when the hosts were the victims of an unlikely brace from Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion flop Oliver Burke, who secured maximum points for a Werder Bremen side looking to mount a European push.
Despite their struggles over the past two months in the Bundesliga, Stuttgart will take confidence from their most recent outing in the division on April 5, when a hat-trick from Ermedin Demirovic stole the headlines as Sebastian Hoeness's men ran out 4-0 victors at VfL Bochum.
Across the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal, Die Roten have enjoyed a four-game winning run against Union Berlin, but the capital club picked up a handsome victory in this fixture not too long along on home soil in April 2023, when Sheraldo Becker was on the scoresheet during a 3-0 triumph.
Team News
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Union Berlin are without the services of midfielder Aljoscha Kemlein, who suffered a season-ending foot injury near the conclusion of January.
Die Eisernen are also unable to call upon the talents of Jerome Roussillon, with the 32-year-old picking up a knock during the stalemate with Leverkusen last time out.
The hosts' options in defence are reduced by the absence of Josip Juranovic, who is only a couple of days away from a minor calf problem.
Stuttgart have been unsuccessful in their appeal of Nick Woltemade's red card versus Werder Bremen, so the midfielder will be unavailable this weekend.
Featuring just twice for Die Roten this term in the Bundesliga, Dan-Axel Zagadou faces a race to be fit before the end of the season in May.
Union Berlin possible starting lineup:
Ronnow; Doekhi, Querfeld, Leite; Trimmel, Khedira, Haberer, Rothe; Skarke, Schafer, Hollerbach
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Stergiou, Jeltsch, Hendriks, Mittelstaedt; Karazor, Stiller; Rieder, Undav, Fuhrich; Demirovic
We say: Union Berlin 1-0 Stuttgart
After a hard-fought point at Leverkusen last weekend, Union Berlin should be confident of winning against a struggling Stuttgart this weekend.
With five games remaining of the Bundesliga term, Die Roten could have one eye on the DFB Pokal final versus third-tier Arminia Bielefeld next month.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
