Preview: Switching focus to Union | OneFootball

Following the Champions League spectacle on Thursday, Eintracht are now concentrating on their match against 1. FC Union Berlin at Deutsche Bank Park on Sunday.

The backdrop

“Today we can enjoy this moment and celebrate a bit, but tomorrow our full focus will be on the Bundesliga,” said Robin Koch after the 5-1 UEFA Champions League victory over Galatasaray on Thursday evening.

Deutsche Bank Park will provide the stage once more on Sunday as the Eagles switch focus to domestic matters, with Union Berlin the visitors on Bundesliga Matchday 4 (kick-off 15:30 CEST). The theme of the matchday is ‘100 Years of the Waldstadion’, celebrating the centenary of the stadium’s opening.

Dino Toppmöller’s side will be eager to continue their impressive home form, having gone unbeaten in their last five Bundesliga assignments in Frankfurt, collecting 13 of a possible 15 points while scoring 14 goals and conceding just three.

Eintracht also have a score to settle with Union, as they have failed to beat them in their last three league meetings. The Eagles’ most recent victory over the club from the capital was almost two years ago in November 2023 at the Alte Försterei stadium.

“It’s going to be a completely different game with a different dynamic and a different narrative. Union will certainly let us have more possession. It’s about finding a good structure with the ball. Defensively, second balls will play a key role. We need to bring physicality to the pitch. We’re looking forward to it and know what the Bundesliga means to us. It’s where we want to qualify for nights like the one we experienced on Thursday. We want to show as much by delivering a good performance and getting the right result for Eintracht,” said Toppmöller at his pre-match press conference.

Looking back

Union, currently 14th in the table, earned a 2-1 win the last time the teams met on 9 March this year at Deutsche Bank Park, a result which was also Eintracht’s last Bundesliga home defeat.

“That result is still in the back of our minds,” said Toppmöller. “There’s also a degree of anger because we know how unnecessary that defeat was. We want a different outcome on this occasion.”

Uzun and Ansah on the up One player who could help do just that is the in-form Can Uzun, who scored the team’s second goal against Galatasaray on Thursday.

The 19-year-old has also registered three goals and two assists across the first three Bundesliga matchdays of the season, setting a new record for an Eintracht player since detailed data collection began in 2004/05. If Uzun also finds the net against Union, he would become the first teenager in Bundesliga history ever to score on each of the first four matchdays of a new campaign.

Union likewise have an exciting youngster in their ranks, with Ilyas Ansah setting a club best with three goals from his side’s opening three league matches. The 20-year-old has hit the target with three of his four attempts, giving him a Bundesliga-best chance conversion rate of 75 percent, level with Bayer Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick.