1. FC Union Berlin's women's team will play their first home game of the Regionalliga Nordost season on Sunday, 04.09.2022, against FSV Babelsberg 74. After last weekend's successful start at Viktoria Berlin, Union are now looking to improve on their performance on matchday 2. Kick-off at Dörpfeldstraße is at 2 pm.

Opponents: Babelsberg want to stay up

In the summer of 2020, FSV Babelsberg 74 returned to the Regionalliga after a three-year absence. However the team from Potsdam were immediately relegated. In each of the following two seasons, the green-and-whites finished first in the Landesliga. But in 2017/18 they voluntarily refrained from playing in the play-offs, before the NOFV then denied them promotion in 2018/19 due to a lack of youth development.

Their return to the Regionalliga was finally achieved two years ago. Last season Babelsberg finished in 12th place (out of 17), but also benefited from the fact that two clubs (SC Staaken and Phoenix Leipzig) withdrew their teams from the league before the season's end.

Avoiding relegation remains their main objective, as FSV head coach Clemens Haack (who replaced Ivo Ziemann in the summer after six and a half years in charge) succinctly explained: "We have to leave enough teams behind us to stay up."

Last weekend, FSV were able to claim their first point of the season against Bischofswerdaer FV. Babelsberg took an early 1-0 lead through Aline Reikober, but their visitors scored an equaliser in the final quarter of an hour.

Balance: Decisive last encounters

The two teams have only met twice before in the Regionalliga, playing out a goalless draw in September 2020. Then, three months ago, on the second-last day of the season, the Eisernen Ladies won 3-0. Captain Lisa Heiseler scoring twice. In March this year they also faced each other in a friendly, Union winning this time 8-0.

The match will also mark a reunion for Union's new goalkeeping coach, Laura Ketzer. The 28-year-old was between the posts at FSV for the past two years, playing 16 times for the club. It was Ketzer who kept the score at 0-0 against Union two years ago, making numerous saves and driving the Union players to despair. On the other side, there are also two familiar faces at FSV: Lätizia Radloff (2018-2021) and Katharina Bödeker (2016-2021) were at Union until pre-season.

The coach's view on the match

Union head coach Ailien Poese is aiming for a repeat of the win against Viktoria Berlin. "In Babelsberg, we expect a highly motivated opponent. We will need to defend with the quality we have showed in pre-season. But to leave tvictorious, we also need to play our own game."

In terms of personnel, both Celine Frank and Sophie Trojahn will be missing due to injury, with defender Anouk Westphal expected to be absent due to illness. Midfielder Pauline Wimmer, who received a yellow card in the season opener in Lichterfelde, will also miss the home opener.