TSG Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin

TSG Hoffenheim will be looking to build upon a stellar start to the new Bundesliga campaign when they meet Union Berlin at PreZero Arena this weekend.

The hosts have gone from winning their first two Bundesliga matches against Union Berlin ‘to nil’ to failing to beat this opposition in their most recent two such duels (D1, L1). Hoffenheim will be confident of returning to winning ways against Union Berlin after liting up Bundesliga Matchday 1 with a joint-largest win in the shape of a 4-0 thumping of Augsburg on the road. Additionally, ‘Die Kraichgauer’ have won their last three home Bundesliga fixtures, notably scoring 2+ goals on each occasion, at an average of 3.00 per game. It keeps getting better and better for Hoffenheim as they are unbeaten in their last eight Bundesliga outings in a row (W4, D4). In fact, they are only two games away from tying their longest undefeated run in Germany’s top-flight set between October and December 2018 under Julian Naglesmann.

On the other hand, Union Berlin held Bayer Leverkusen to a 1-1 home draw on the opening weekend despite allowing 16 shots towards their goal. With their first European fixture since 2001/02 on the horizon, manager Urs Fischer could opt to rest some key first-team players here. But it could hamper Union Berlin’s hopes of halting an underwhelming six-match winless streak in away Bundesliga matches (D3, L3). Curiously, both of their only previous Bundesliga Matchday 2 contests have yielded the identical 1-1 scoreline, which was also the case in their final league trip of 2020/21. Another glaring problem for the visitors is a run of 11 consecutive Bundesliga games without a clean sheet. That seems unlikely to change here, given that ‘Die Eisernen’ have conceded at least once in each of their four top-flight meetings with Hoffenheim.