1. FC Union Berlin's first encounter with city rivals Hertha BSC will take place on Friday at 20:30 at the Olympic Stadium in Charlottenburg.

Review

Max Kruse added another two goals to his account last Saturday as 1. FC Union Berlin fought until the end to claim a point against Eintracht Frankfurt. The Köpenick club started in relentless fashion, pounding Kevin Trapp's goal in the opening phase of the game. Robert Andrich took advantage of a goalkeeping mistake in the second minute before Taiwo Awoniyi was brought down in the penalty box, two minutes later. Kruse stepped up to convert from the penalty spot after missing the opportunity to equal the all-time Bundesliga record for successive kicks last weekend in Köln. But Adi Hütter's Frankfurt settled themselves after a wretched start in Berlin and eventually found another level of form. Andre Silva sweeped in his first after 26 minutes before heading in Filip Kostic's set-piece before the interval. It was then Union, who had to compose themselves under pressure and the second half was a dogged, intensive affair. Bas Dost fired Frankfurt ahead as the game headed for a gripping conclusion when Kruse smashed home from 25 yards to sixth goal in nine matches since joining Union in the summer.

Hertha's performance in Leverkusen earned praise from Urs Fischer ahead of Friday's third Bundesliga derby between the teams. After losing heavily to Borussia Dortmund the week earlier, Hertha closed out Bayer Leverkusen and left Nordrhein-Westfalen with a 0-0 draw. 

Opponents

Bruno Labbadia's Hertha have eight points from nine Bundesliga matches so far this season. At the Olympic Stadium, which normally hosts upwards of 75,000, the club from Charlottenburg have only managed to pick up one point – a 1-1 draw against Wolfsburg. Eintracht Frankfurt and Stuttgart both left Berlin with three points from their visits to play Hertha, while Dortmund won 5-2 a week ago. Victories in Augsburg and Bremen have kept Labbadia's side above the relegation dogfight at the bottom-end of the Bundesliga. However, the expectations for Hertha are high with some marquee signings in the last 6-12 months. Around 33 million euros were spent on the likes of Jhon Cordoba, Alexander Schwolow, Omar Alderete, Deyovaiso Zeefuik and Matteo Guendouzi. In the January transfer window, Labbadia's squad was strengthened with the likes of Krzysztof Piatek from Milan, Dodi Lukebakio, Lucas Tousart from Lyon and Matheus Cunha from Leipzig – another 100 million euros spent on taking the club up the league. 

Personnel

1. FC Union Berlin have four absentees for the trip across the capital – Christian Gentner, Joel Pohjanpalo, Nico Schlotterbeck and Anthony Ujah. Fischer gave positive news about Gentner and Schlotterbeck who are "going in the right direction" in their respective recoveries. Keita Endo has trained most of last week and this week, but the management team continue to monitor his progress ahead of a first-team return.

Service

Friday's match is behind closed doors in accordance with the current lockdown restrictions.