Union Berlin host Maccabi Haifa at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on Thursday in the UEFA Europa Conference League, looking to bounce back from the opening day loss.
The Iron Ones were beaten 3-1 by Slavia Praha earlier this month following a late collapse. They were reduced to 10-men in the first-half after defender Paul Jaeckel was shown a second yellow card in the 39th minute.
Two goals in the final 10 minutes from Jan Kuchta and Ivan Schranz denied the Bundesliga side a point and condemned them to the bottom of Group E.
Haifa, the defending Israeli Premier League champions, were held to a goalless stalemate by Feyenoord. The draw started a run of two winless games and ended only last Sunday with a 2-0 league win.
Union Berlin vs Maccabi Haifa Head-To-Head
This will be the first official clash between the sides.
Union Berlin Form Guide (all competitions): W-L-L-D-W
Maccabi Haifa Form Guide (all competitions): W-L-D-W-D
Union Berlin vs Maccabi Haifa Team News
Union Berlin
Timo Baumgartl is out with a concussion after he was knocked out following a collision in the last match against Arminia Bielefeld. However, manager Urs Fischer gave a positive update on the player at the weekend, saying the centre-back is doing well in training. Yet, this game might be a bit too soon for him.
Another centre-back, Paul Jaeckel, is suspended on Thursday for getting sent off in the opening day loss to Slavia Praha.
Injured: Timo Baumgartl
Suspended: Paul Jaeckel
Unavailable: None
Maccabi Haifa
The Israeli outfit too is currently nursing a couple of casualties. Striker Ben Sahar is out with a hamstring problem while midfielder Mohammed Abu Fani has a miniscal injury.
Injured: Ben Sahar, Mohammed Abu Fani
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Union Berlin vs Maccabi Haifa Predicted XI
Union Berlin (3-4-1-2): Andreas Luthe; Marvin Friedrich, Robin Knoche, Rani Khedira; Christopher Trimmel, Grischa Promel, Kevin Mohwald, Niko Giebelmann; Max Kruse; Taiwo Awoniyi, Andreas Voglsammer.
Maccabi Haifa (4-3-3): Josh Cohen; Raz Meir, Bogdan Planic, Ofri Arad, Sun Menahem; Mahmoud Jaber, Ali Mohamed, Tjaronn Chery; Omer Atzili, Dean David, Dolev Haziza.
Union Berlin vs Maccabi Haifa Prediction
Despite the shock loss to Slavia Praha on matchday one, Union Berlin remain favorites to progress from the group.
They have a good attacking arsenal and will be looking to get their campaign up and running.
Prediction: Union Berlin 2-1 Maccabi Haifa