Preview: Greuther Furth vs. Union Berlin - prediction, team news, lineups

On a run of 12 consecutive defeats in the Bundesliga, Greuther Furth play host to Union Berlin at the Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer on Sunday.

The visitors, meanwhile, saw their Conference League campaign come to an end last time out and will be seeking to quickly put that behind them and return to winning ways.

Match preview

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Greuther Furth have endured a gruesome return to the Bundesliga as they have picked up one draw and lost 13 of their opening fourteen games of the season.

The Bavaria-based side are rooted to the bottom of the league standings, nine points adrift of 17th-placed Arminia Bielefeld and 14 behind Hertha Berlin in safety.

Stefan Leitl's men head into Sunday's game fresh off the back of a 7-1 thumping at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen when the sides squared off at the BayArena Stadium.

After heading into the second half with a 3-1 lead, Czech Republic forward Patrik Schick hit four goals in the second 45 minutes to cap off a sensational individual performance.

Greuther Furth have now lost each of their most recent 12 games on the bounce, conceding 39 goals and scoring 10 since a 1-1 draw with Armina Bielefeld on September 21.

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Meanwhile, Union Berlin will be delighted by their performance so far as they have picked up six wins and five draws from 14 games this season.

They are currently tied on 23 points with fifth-placed Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga table and two points behind Freiburg in the final Champions League qualification spot.

Urs Fischer's men head into Sunday's game fresh off the back of an impressive 2-1 victory over Leipzig courtesy of goals from Taiwo Awoniyi and Timo Baumgartl either side of Christopher Nkunku's 13th-minute equaliser.

Union Berlin's solid start to the season has been owing to their performance on home turf, where they boast the division's third-best record with 17 points from eight games.

Team News

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Greuther Furth will take to the pitch with several issues to contend with at the defensive end of the pitch as the likes of Justin Hoogma, Gideon Jung and Nick Viergever are all on the club's injury table.

Up top, Robin Kehr and Jessic Ngankam continue their spells on the sidelines through severe knee problems and remain out of contention for the newly-promoted side.

As for Union Berlin, Laurenz Dehl remains their only concern on the injury front as the German midfielder continued his journey to full fitness after sustaining a muscle problem back in October.

In attack, we should see a two-man pairing of veteran forward Max Kruse and Nigerian international Taiwo Awoniyi in Fischer's preferred 3-5-2 formation.

Greuther Furth possible starting lineup:
Funk; Meyerhofer, Sarpei, Bauer, Willems; Griesbeck, Christiansen, Tillman; Leweling, Abiama, Hrgota

Union Berlin possible starting lineup:
Luthe; Friedrich, Knoche, Baumgartl; Trimmel, Haraguchi, Khedira, Promel, Giesselmann; Awoniyi, Kruse

We say: Greuther Furth 0-2 Union Berlin

It has not been a welcome return to the top flight for Greuther Furth, who find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table after a string of disappointing results. Union Berlin, in contrast, could move into the Champions League qualification places with all three points after a solid campaign so far. We are tipping the visitors to claim all three points and heap more misery on the floundering host.

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