1. FC Union Berlin's second season in Germany's top division will get underway on Saturday at the traditional kick-off time of 15:30 when Augsburg head to the capital.

Urs Fischer's side scored their first-ever Bundesliga goal in Augsburg in the second game of last season and have prepared for the curtain raiser with a successful passage to Round 2 of the German Cup. 

Fischer: "In the end, we finished the job. It was a hard game against Karlsruhe. When I look at every other Cup match, many teams encountered problems. It's the first game, so it takes time to know where you stand. In the end, what counts is that we won."

Review

With last Saturday's German Cup clash in Karlsruhe heading the way of penalties, the 500-strong home crowd was left stunned when central defender Nico Schlotterbeck acrobatically hooked in the winning goal after 117 minutes of play. The on-loan Freiburg man popped up at the death to put the Köpenick club into the second round draw, which will take place on Sunday October 18.

Opposition

Meanwhile, Heiko Herrlich's team romped to a 7-0 drubbing of lower-league Eintracht Celle. Ruben Vargas and new signing Daniel Caligiuri put Augsburg two up within 30 minutes before the club's all-time record goalscorer Alfred Finnbogason scored a third from the penalty spot. Florian Niederlechner and Andre Hahn got on the scoresheet and Fredrik Jensen bagged a double in the last couple of minutes to secure the Bundesliga club a place in Round 2.

FC Augsburg held tightly to a five-point cushion above Werder Bremen in the Relegation Play-Off position to complete a full decade in Germany's top division. There have been notable moves during the summer transfer window at the WWK Arena — particularly the arrival of former Union number one Rafal Gikiewicz. Felix Udoukhai turned a loan move into a permanent one and vast experience was added to the squad in the shape of Caligiuri and Tobias Strobl. Highly-rated full-back Robert Gumny also completed his switch from Lech Poznan to the Bundesliga outfit. Heading through the exit door after lots of speculation, left-back Philipp Max made a surprise move to PSV Eindhoven. With Gikiewicz arriving, Andreas Luthe headed out — signing for 1. FC Union Berlin to improve his first-team football opportunities.

Personnel

Fischer confirmed at the pre-match press conference that Keita Endo and Anthony Ujah are struggling for fitness. Endo took part in training on Thursday and is making progress in his return from injury. "The rest of the squad took part," added the Swiss coach.

Service

The first Bundesliga game will be live on Sky Sports in Germany, ESPN in the United States and on BT Sport in the United Kingdom. Matches are continuing with restricted numbers and 5,000 maximum will be permitted inside the Stadion An der Alten Försterei in accordance with the infection protection measures in the capital.