The Bavarians still hold a four-point lead over Borussia Dortmund, although by Bayern’s lofty standards form is faltering during the second half of this campaign – the ‘Bavarians’ have picked up their joint-lowest points tally nine games into the second half of the season since 2011/12.
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich’s failure to win their last two Bundesliga outings has reignited this season’s title race when they previously looked like champions-elect. They still hold a four-point lead over Borussia Dortmund, although by Bayern’s lofty standards form is faltering during the second half of this campaign – the ‘Bavarians’ have picked up their joint-lowest points tally nine games into the second half of the season since 2011/12. They come into this clash aiming to avoid going three Bundesliga games without a win for the first time since November 2018, and will therefore probably be pleased with a fixture against Union Berlin, a side they’ve never lost against. Despite that, there’s no guarantee it’ll be a walk in the park for Bayern, particularly as two of the last three H2H meetings finished by the same 1-1 scoreline, as did their last two league outings.
Union Berlin
Another draw would be a good result for Union Berlin, but they’ll be hoping for more if they want to keep their European ambitions alive. The capital club’s continental hopes have taken a knock recently after just one win from their last six league matches – only one Bundesliga side picked up fewer points during that time – and they’re now six points from the top six going into this weekend’s action. A big contributing factor to Union’s recent struggles has been their form on the road as they’ve now lost ‘to nil’ in their last three Bundesliga away games. They’d never previously failed to score in three straight Bundesliga away games, and are now bidding to avoid losing four on the road in the competition for the first time too.
Thomas Muller scored two second-half goals during a 7-1 rout in Bayern’s last competitive home game against Salzburg and netted his side’s last goal in this season’s 5-2 reverse fixture win. All Union eyes will be on Taiwo Awoniyi as he’s secured three-goal contributions across his last four competitive appearances. Union are the only Bundesliga side yet to concede during the five minutes on either side of half-time.