With the October international break now over, Bundesliga football resumes on Friday evening as Union Berlin welcome Borussia Monchengladbach to Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Both sides have endured a difficult start to the season, struggling to find consistency and rhythm, though Union remain slightly better placed, sitting four points above their visitors. Gladbach, meanwhile, are still searching for their first league win of the campaign and remain the only team in the division yet to secure one.

The break likely came at a perfect moment for Union Berlin, who were in desperate need of a reset after a frustrating run of form. Steffen Baumgart’s side have gone two consecutive Bundesliga matches without scoring, failing to find the net in 214 minutes of league action. In fact, they have not scored in nearly a month, highlighting the attacking problems that have plagued them lately. At the other end, defensive issues persist, as Union have conceded 13 goals so far, managing only one clean sheet — the third-worst defensive record in the competition. Despite those problems, they have still managed to collect seven points and remain competitive in most of their matches. The Berliners will now be looking to snap their two-game losing streak against Borussia Monchengladbach and earn their first victory over the visitors since November 2023.

For Gladbach, the season’s early stages have been equally disappointing. After a dismal opening stretch under Gerardo Seoane, the club decided to part ways with the manager in mid-September, appointing Eugen Polanski as interim boss. Since then, Polanski has brought a slight improvement in spirit and structure, overseeing back-to-back draws against Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen. However, inconsistency still plagues the team — sandwiched between those draws was a chaotic 6-4 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, exposing their defensive fragility. Gladbach have now gone 13 Bundesliga games without a win and desperately need a breakthrough to lift morale. They have, however, enjoyed recent success against Union, winning both of their previous two meetings, which may provide a psychological edge heading into this contest.

Union’s squad situation looks relatively stable, though there are some uncertainties. Robert Skov returned to action in a friendly during the international break after missing time through injury, while Livan Burcu and Josip Juranović remain doubts. Gladbach, on the other hand, continue to deal with several absences, including long-term injuries to Tim Kleindienst, Nathan Ngoumou, and Robin Hack.

Given both sides’ struggles in attack and defensive instability, this fixture could prove a cagey affair. Union’s home advantage may help them control large spells of the game, but Gladbach’s fighting spirit under Polanski could be enough to deny them all three points.

随着十月国际比赛日的结束，德甲联赛将在周五晚上恢复，柏林联盟将在阿尔滕球场迎来门兴格拉德巴赫队Försterei。双方都经历了艰难的赛季开局，努力寻找稳定和节奏，尽管联盟仍然稍微好一点，领先客队4分。与此同时，格拉德巴赫仍在寻找他们本赛季的第一场联赛胜利，并且仍然是唯一一支尚未获得一场胜利的球队。

这个突破对柏林联盟来说可能是一个完美的时刻，他们在一段令人沮丧的状态后迫切需要一个重置。斯蒂芬·鲍姆加特的球队已经连续两场德甲比赛没有进球，在214分钟的联赛中没有进球。事实上，他们已经近一个月没有进球了，这凸显了最近困扰他们的进攻问题。另一方面，防守问题依然存在，到目前为止，曼联已经丢了13个球，只有一个零封，这是联赛中防守记录第三差的球队。尽管存在这些问题，他们仍然设法拿到了7分，并在大多数比赛中保持了竞争力。柏林人现在将寻求结束对门兴格拉德巴赫的两连败，并赢得自2023年11月以来对客队的第一场胜利。

对于格拉德巴赫来说，本赛季的初期同样令人失望。在西恩的惨淡开局后，俱乐部决定在9月中旬与主教练分道扬镳，任命欧根·波兰斯基为临时主帅。从那以后，波兰斯基给球队带来了精神和结构上的进步，他带领球队背靠背战平了弗赖堡和勒沃库森。然而，球队的不稳定仍然困扰着球队——在两场平局之间，混乱的6-4输给法兰克福，暴露了他们防守的脆弱性。格拉德巴赫已经在德甲联赛中13场未胜，他们迫切需要突破来提振士气。然而，他们最近在对阵曼联的比赛中取得了成功，在之前的两次交锋中都取得了胜利，这可能会为他们进入这场比赛提供心理优势。

工会的阵容状况看起来相对稳定，尽管有一些不确定因素。罗伯特·斯科夫在因伤缺阵后在国际比赛日的友谊赛中复出，而利文·布尔库和尤拉诺维奇仍有疑问。格拉德巴赫，另一方面，继续处理一些缺阵，包括长期受伤的蒂姆·克莱因丁斯特，内森·恩古穆和罗宾·哈克。

考虑到双方在进攻和防守上的不稳定，这场比赛可能会被证明是一场谨慎的比赛。联盟的主场优势可能会帮助他们控制比赛的大部分时间，但格拉德巴赫在波兰斯基的带领下的斗志可能足以让他们失去三分。