Union Berlin will be looking to remain top of the Bundesliga ahead of the international break when they take on Wolfsburg on Sunday.

The visitors, meanwhile, secured their first win under new boss Niko Kovac last weekend.

Match preview

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Union Berlin's trajectory continues to rise steeply, with Urs Fischer's side becoming the league leaders of Germany's top flight for the first time in their history after beating FC Koln 1-0 away from home last weekend.

Timo Hubers's third-minute own goal gave the visitors the perfect start, allowing them to sit deep and attempt to spring transitions for the majority of the match, as is their general preferred style of play.

Koln probed in possession but they never looked likely to break their opponents down, with Luca Kilian embodying his side's frustration by picking up a second bookable offence in the 81st minute, which effectively ended their hopes of pegging Union Berlin back.

In Europe, though, Fischer's side are struggling. Competing in the Europa League for only the second time in their history, a second successive 1-0 defeat in the competition - this time away to Braga on Thursday - has left them facing an uphill battle to qualify from Group D, as they and Malmo already find themselves six points behind Braga and Union Saint-Gilloise.

Should Die Eisermen's sensational form in the Bundesliga continue, though, Fischer and the fans are unlikely to concern themselves too much with Europe. In the final matchday before the forthcoming international break, they will hope to preserve their unbeaten record, ideally beating Wolfsburg to ensure that they stay top of the division.

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Wolfsburg, meanwhile, finally got up and running under Kovac, who would have been delighted to beat his former club Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 away from home last weekend.

In an extremely tight game, Maxence Lacroix bagged only his second ever Bundesliga goal by towering above his opponents to head home what proved to be a decisive winner on the hour mark.

Despite only having 37% possession, Wolfsburg prevented their opponents from having a single shot on target across the entire match, which would have massively pleased their coach having shipped four goals in the previous weekend's defeat to Koln.

Against a Union Berlin side who are more than happy to sit in - particularly if they have a lead to hold onto, as has often been the case this season - the Wolves may need to show more proactivity with the ball on Sunday, but they should possess a more powerful bite having recorded their first win of the season to move outside of the automatic relegation places in the process.

Team News

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Fischer only made two changes for Thursday's trip to Braga, as he rested Christopher Trimmel while bringing first-choice goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow back into the side after he missed the victory against Koln with a knock.

Morten Thorsby is expected to be available again, too, and he could replace Andras Schafer to solidify the midfield area, with Trimmel returning to the side and Julian Ryerson switching to the opposite wing-back role.

Danilho Doekhi and Kevin Mohwald remain sidelined through injury.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, will travel without Max Kruse after Kovac revealed that the 34-year-old is unlikely to play for the club again, certainly while the former Croatia international remains as manager in any case.

Having started in both of Wolfsburg's previous two defeats, former Union Berlin star Kruse was left out of the matchday squad for the trip to Frankfurt, with a lack of commitment cited as the main reason for his absence, meaning he will miss out on facing his previous side at the weekend.

With Jerome Roussillon, Patrick Wimmer and Jonas Wind all expected to be unavailable through injury, Kovac is likely to name an unchanged side having bagged his first win in charge.

Union Berlin possible starting lineup:
Ronnow; Jaeckel, Knoche, Leite; Trimmel, Thorsby, Khedira, Haberer, Ryerson; Becker, Siebatcheu

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Baku, Lacroix, Van de Ven, Otavio; Svanberg, Franjic, Arnold; Waldschmidt, L. Nmecha, Brekalo

We say: Union Berlin 1-0 Wolfsburg

We can envisage a tight match between two teams who prefer to quickly counter-attack to building possession slowly, but there is little doubt that the hosts are in much better shape at present.

Fischer's side are tough to break down and, with Sheraldo Becker and Jordan Siebatcheu both in excellent form, they pack a bigger punch, too.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Brett Curtis

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