Our next opponents: Union missing top striker

Position

Urs Fischer made his views clear: "We've earned the points we've got." Union Berlin have clocked up 27 in the first half of the season and just missed their own Bundesliga first half of the campaign record by one point. The coach rates the performance of his team even higher as Union have played 27 matches including play-offs so far due to qualification for the Conference League, where they went out in the group stage.

However, Fischer sees room for improvement. "We want to be more compact and give less away. We want to be more clinical in attack and create more chances to score goals," said the Swiss coach who, all in all, would like to see "a repeat of the performance from last season," even though he knows this will be "very difficult" despite the good return from the first half of the season. The opening match of the year at the BayArena should present a challenge. "Leverkusen are a very good team with lots of individual quality," declared the 55 year-old before adding: "They have players in their ranks who can win games."

Personnel

Fischer will have to manage without his top striker Taiwo Awoniyi on Saturday. The 25-year-old Nigerian forward, top scorer at the club, is currently – as with the two Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso) and Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast) – preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations with his national team and will therefore miss the opening fixture of the second half of the season at Leverkusen. In addition, Union are also missing Sheraldo Becker, Pawel Wszolek (both tested positive for Covid-19) and Laurenz Dehl (rehab training).

There is also a question mark over Keita Endo who is currently sidelined. "I hope he will be able to take part in the final training session and then we'll see what happens," said Fischer who otherwise has everybody else on board. That means: Winter signing Dominique Heintz could be in the squad. The former Freiburg player will probably not be in the starting line-up as the head coach explained: "He needs a certain amount of time." Particularly as Timo Baumgartl, Marvin Friedrich and Robin Knoche can be seen as an established back three.

Performers

The Irons have one of the most solid defences in the league with just 21 goals conceded – that is only bettered by Bayern Munich, SC Freiburg (both 16) and Mainz 05 (17). "That is down to our good organisation on the pitch because we keep things tight and remain compact," said Union fitness coach Martin Krüger. Union Berlin have also put in a lot of running this season: On average, they clocked up 118.2 kilometres per game putting them third in the league rankings behind Eintracht Frankfurt (118.6) and Arminia Bielefeld (119.6).

While top goalscorer Awoniyi is absent due to the Africa Cup of Nations, Max Kruse is a candidate for the starting line-up. The 33-year-old netted his 14th Bundesliga goal for Union at Bochum on matchday 17 to put him level with Awoniyi as the record scorer for the Irons in the top-flight. Werkself fans note: Kruse’s last four goal involvements in the Bundesliga this season have been on the road (two goals, two assists). Overall he has three goals and three assists.

Problems

The Berlin team often need time to get going in matches. That is reflected in the statistics: The FCU defence has conceded six goals in the opening 15 minutes – the fourth worst return for Bundesliga clubs. In contrast, the Werkself are quick out of the blocks: The team under head coach Gerardo Seoane have found the back of the net eleven times in the opening quarter of an hour – the most in the league.

Prediction

While Union Berlin had to manage with a heavy workload in the first half of the season due to participation in the Conference League they can now fully concentrate on the Bundesliga. Coach Urs Fischer also has more time for training – which suits him down to the ground: The coach from Zurich, who has made a name for himself in the German capital as a tactical fox, loves football. The ground covered by his team is part of the success story. The Irons have the capacity to do well in the second half of the season and qualify for Europe again this term.