Rounding off a busy first week of year, the men's team of 1. FC Union Berlin will face 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Sunday, 19 January 2025. The game at the An der Alten Försterei stadium  against the Bundesliga’s sixth-placed side is at 15:30

The lie of the land

With the second-best first half of the season in the club's history (28 points), Mainz travel to Berlin-Köpenick and want to quickly forget their midweek defeat against Leverkusen. The 1-0 reverse on Tuesday was their first goalless game after three wins in a row, during which they were able to beat Bayern München and Eintracht Frankfurt, among others. The defeat to the reigning champions was only their second away loss of the season, after the wild 4-3 in Wolfsburg.

Union, for their part, are hoping to turn around a run of seven defeats in a row and are relying on their strength against the Mainz: they have not been beaten by them in seven matches.

The opponents

If you talk about anyone from Mainz this season, it has to be Jonathan Burkhardt. The 24-year-old has scored twelve goals this season and has therefore been responsible for 40% of FSV's goals. However, the new international player will in all likelihood be unable to play due to injury.

Even though the visitors will likely have to rely on different personnel in attack, they can count on one of the best goalkeepers in the entire league in their defence. Robin Zentner currently has an xSaves value of +5.9, which means that in theory he stops six more shots on target than predicted. With 21 goals conceded, he has helped ensure that Mainz’s record is second only to Bayern München (13) and St. Pauli (also 21) in goals conceded.

Union's head coach Steffen Baumgart will have to wait a little longer for his first duel with FSV coach Bo Henriksen. The 49-year-old Danish manager was sent off in the game against champions Leverkusen and will now be replaced by assistant coach XXX.

The head to head

There have been 17 competitive duels between the two clubs so far. Union have won seven of them, five have ended in a draw and another five went to Mainz. The fact that they have only lost one game against them in the Alte Försterei (2-0 on the first day of the 2002/03 2. Liga season) also gives Union cause for optimism.

The personnel

Union's head coach Steffen Baumgart will not be able to call upon Oluwaseun Ogbemudia, Frederik Rönnow and Ivan Prtajin. Tom Rothe is also missing due to a red card suspension.

The coaches’ views ahead of the game

“We didn't play well against Augsburg, but we still have to build on the good things and approaches. Morale was also good, the boys didn't give up,” said Union’s head coach, Steffen Baumgart, during his press conference on Friday afternoon. “Mainz are a team that play with a lot of emotion and aggression, they don't give much away and are a really nasty opponent, but that's meant in a really positive way. Overall, they do a lot of the things we want to show.”

Meanwhile, his opposite number, Bo henrikssen, had this to say: “We have enough leaders in the team who can take responsibility. My coaching team will find the right words at half-time, I'm not worried about that. The team will do well without me.”

Service information

As usual, the stadium An der Alten Försterei opens two hours before kick-off; the home sections are completely sold out.

There are still extensive traffic disruptions to public transport, and it is only possible to travel via the tram lines through the old town of Köpenick using the rail replacement service. All visitors are therefore advised to arrive early.

The game will be broadcast live on DAZN. In addition, there will be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and on rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information on the game via the club's own live ticker as well as providing updates in English and Spanish on Twitter.