1. FC Union Berlin vs. VfL Wolfsburg preview: Eight-point separation in capital clash | OneFootball

1. FC UNION BERLIN

It has not been the greatest season for 1. FC Union Berlin (8-6-13, 13th), but given their recent performances, they have a lot to hope for compared to last year. Currently, the hosts have 30 points with seven matches remaining; a win for Die Eisernen at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, however, will meet their total from the 2023 / 24 season, where they finished fifteenth and with 33 points.

The side from the German capital has seen a remarkable rise in one of their strikers, Andrej Ilić, who has contributed to three goals in his last seven matches, and is walking out of matches with fairly high ratings and much praise from the fans and media.

Horst Heldt, Managing Director of Professional Football at the club, said about the 25-year-old Serbian international, “Andrej has developed tremendously. The ankle injury was not an easy situation for him, but he never gave up - he persevered. We knew and were aware that he had quality from the beginning; he didn't come from out of nowhere, but a Champions League participant instead."

Union coach Steffen Baumgart said about his opposition for Sunday, “They have seen quite a quick rise in their years in Bundesliga, winning the league and cup, but also fundamentally, regarding their infrastructure”. It should be mentioned that Baumgart wore the Wolfsburg kit back in the day, in the late 1990s under coach Wolfgang Wolf, and he was also asked about this prior to coaching his new team against Die Wölfe. “It was an important, and very wonderful time for me and my family”, the 53-year-old said about his time in Lower Saxony.

Team News

Centre-back Oluwaseun Ogbemudia (foot), defensive midfielder Aljoscha Kemlein (foot surgery), left midfielder Robert Skov (foot), and attacking midfielder Jeong Woo-yeong (ankle), are all absent from this match with injuries.

VFL WOLFSBURG

On the other side of the field, VfL Wolfsburg (10-8-9, 12th) were in a fierce competition for European places just a month ago. Victories in Stuttgart and Bremen brought them just one point away from a UEFA Europa Conference League spot, but this was then followed by a 1-1 draw with relegation-battling FC St. Pauli, and two 0-1 defeats to FC Augsburg and 1. FC Heidenheim 1846.

A major contributor to this situation, which could also possibly affect the club this weekend, is their defensive issues; six players are now unable to play the next match. Konstantinos Koulierakis and Denis Vavro, Wolfsburg's two regularly starting centre-backs, suffered injuries in the defeat to Heidenheim; Sebastiaan Bornauw, Mathys Angély, Mads Roerslev, and Rogério are also missing from the bench.

With this growing situation becoming worse for Die Wölfe, it means that 18-year-old David Odogu will likely be starting his first match at the senior professional level, in his hometown of Berlin and against the same team he represented for their academy in 2020.

Coach Ralph Hasenhüttl said about Odogu, “We have him more or less set in our squad for the match, and if we did not think he could do it, he would not be in our squad. He had to wait a while for the chance; unfortunately, it will come with, probably, someone next to him with the same amount of experience.”

The fortunate news for Wolfsburg, however, is that they have the third-best record away from home in the Bundesliga this season, at 7-2-4 through 13 matches; they also managed a 1-0 win against Union at the Volkswagen Arena on 23. November 2024, with Ridle Baku, now at RB Leipzig, scoring the lone goal in the seventy-first minute.

They are hopeful that they can continue with their decent record away from home, and inch their way back within 2 - 5 points of European competition, especially if Borussia Mönchengladbach lose in Hamburg to FC St. Pauli earlier in the afternoon.

Team News

The overall list of injured Wolfsburg players is now nine, almost an entire third of their 30-man squad; these are left-back Rogério (fitness issues), centre-back Konstantinos Koulierakis (hamstring), centre-back Sebastiaan Bornauw (foot), centre-back Denis Vavro (muscle), centre-back Mathys Angély (torn muscle fibre), right-back Mads Roerslev (heel), central midfielder Mattias Svanberg (knee), attacking midfielder Lovro Majer (torn muscle fibre), and centre-forward Bartosz Białek (knee).