Having scored their first success of the second half of the season last weekend with an emphatic 6-0 win at FSV Babelsberg 74, the women of 1. FC Union Berlin now face another tough test. On Sunday afternoon they will host 1. FFV Erfurt at Dörpfeldstraße in the 16th matchday of the Regionalliga Nordost season. Kick-off is at 2 pm. Admission is free.

The opponents

It should come as no great surprise that 1. FFV Erfurt are currently in 7th place in the table with 21 points. It's a spot they have practically made their own, having finished there in each of the last three seasons. The Thruingian side are a byword for Regionalliga solidity. Their head coach Gino Heinze, who has been on the sidelines in the state capital since 2015, is the longest-serving coach in the league and, since their return in 2019, the Erfurt women are yet to be seriously troubled by the worries of relegation at all.

last week Erfurt beat their neighbours Bischofswerdaer FV 3-2, allowing them to exorcise memories of the start of the second half of the season, when they suffered a 5-0 defeat at Carl Zeiss Jena II.

Curiously though, that success against Bischofswerda was also Erfurt's first home win of the season, as they've proved to be far stronger on the road, picking up 16 of their 21 points away from home, putting them in second place in the away table behind Viktoria Berlin.

But they are facing a ficture pile-up and it will be interesting to see how Erfurt will deal with the tight schedule this week. They are due to play against fourth-division FC Thüringen Weida on Friday evening in the quarter finals of the Thuringia cup. Only one and a half days later, the Erfurt women have to play in Berlin, 300 kilometres away.

The head to head

Union team won convincingly last year in Erfurt, 4-0 with goals through Lisa Görsdorf, Nour Youssef, Zita Rurack and Lisa Heiseler. By contrast, the penultimate encounter in October 2021 was a real spectacle at the Sportforum Johannesplatz in Erfurt as Union won 5:4 despite having lead 3-0 at one point.

Meanwhile, it has been almost seven years since the two teams last faced each other in Berlin. Union winning 1-0 at Dörpfeldstrasse in April 2016.

There have been a total of 17 encounters between the two clubs, with the balance clearly in favour of Union who have won 13 times with one draw, and three wins for Erfurt, whose last success is now more than eleven years ago. In November 2011, FFV beat Union for the last time, 2-0.

The coach's view ahead of the game

"They are an opponent who like to get in front of the opponent's goal through quick counters and switching the ball," said Union head coach Ailien Poese." At the same time, they are very compact and defend well."

Personnel

Union's squad situation continues to be tense. Lisa Görsdorf, Luca Scheel, Zita Rurack, Hannah Kratz and Pauline Wimmer are all still recovering from knocks. Elisa Spolaczyk is also out for Sunday's game due to an injury sustained in the last match. It is also questionable whether Sophie Trojahn and Naika Reissner will be able to play.

The centre-backs Marie Becker, Elisa Schindler and Ginger Schulz have, however, returned to first-team training.