Preview: Union Berlin vs Elversberg - prediction, team news, lineups

Newly-promoted SV Elversberg will hope to continue their strong start to the Bundesliga season on Saturday, when they travel to take on Union Berlin at Stadion An der Alten Forsterei.

The visitors are seventh with seven points heading into gameday five, whereas their opponents are second last in 17th with just one point, which came in matchweek one against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Match preview

Union Berlin will be desperate to bounce back following their 7-0 defeat against Bayern Munich before the international break.

Many teams have lost by such margins when facing Bayern, but they have now conceded 17 goals in their four Bundesliga fixtures so far.

It took until matchweek 10 of 2025-26 for Union to concede 17 times in the league, and it will also be a major concern to fans that they have only scored on four occasions this season in the top flight.

Another loss for Mauro Lustrinelli's side would represent the club's eighth in 12 Bundesliga clashes, while a victory would be the team's third in that stretch.

Union's form at home has been poor, with the hosts failing to win six of their seven most recent outings at Stadion An der Alten Forsterei, suffering three defeats.

© Iconsport / Beautiful Sports International, BEAUTIFUL SPORTS Pressphoto Agency, Alamy

Elversberg's start to the campaign could hardly have been better considering they are already four points ahead of the bottom three, and their goalless stalemate with Schalke 04 on September 20 could be seen as a positive point away from home against a relegation rival.

Manager Vincent Wagner will want his side to provide more protection to the backline given their clean sheet against Schalke was their first in any of their five outings in 2026-27.

Schwarz und Weiss may have been prevented from scoring in that match, but they have found the back of the net 10 times this term.

The visitors will arrive at Stadion An der Alten Forsterei having won four, drawn one and lost just one of their last six games.

Elversberg are yet to experience defeat on the road this campaign, with the club winning on two occasions, including when they beat Borussia Monchengladbach 4-3 on September 5.

Union Berlin Bundesliga form:

Union Berlin form (all competitions):

Elversberg Bundesliga form:

Elversberg form (all competitions):

Team News

© Iconsport / Oliver Kaelke/DeFodi Images

Union only have two injury concerns, with defender Andrik Markgraf (knee) ruled out, while centre-back Stanley N'Soki is a doubt because of a calf issue.

Expect to see Leopold Querfeld and Felix Uduokhai to be stationed in the heart of defence, while Rani Khedira and Janik Haberer are candidates to start in midfield.

As for Elversberg, defender Luis Seifert (ankle) and Tom Zimmerschied (match fitness) are both unavailable, with the latter having last played in August.

Lukas Pinckert and Maximilian Rohr are likely to be trusted in the middle of a back four, while Felix Keidel and Lukasz Poreba may shield the duo from the visitors' double pivot.

David Mokwa is set to play as the team's number nine, and he could be flanked by wingers Lukas Petkov and Cole Campbell.

Union Berlin possible starting lineup:

Ronnow; Juranovic, Querfeld, Uduokhai, Rothe; Jeong, Khedira, Haberer, Aebischer; Lath, Burcu

Elversberg possible starting lineup:

Kristof; Gyamerah, Pinckert, Rohr, Gunther; Keidel, Poreba; Petkov, Darvich, Campbell; Mokwa

We say: Union Berlin 1-2 Elversberg

It is impossible to ignore the hosts' frailty at the back, though the visitors have also struggled to keep opponents out.

Elversberg should be seen as favourites, and their ability to threaten in the final third could help them get over the line.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.