Hoeness: "We're hugely looking forward to the fans"

Sebastian Hoeness on…

…the personnel situation: "We're still without Benjamin Hübner, Ermin Bičakčić and Håvard Nordtveit, the latter of whom we're hoping will return to team training next week. The same applies to Ihlas Bebou. Pavel Kadeřábek and Florian Grillitsch are on the right track; we'll wait and see over the next two days if they're okay for Sunday. Dennis Geiger has trained normally and is an option for Sunday."

…the return of spectators: "We're hugely looking forward to the fans. The spectators will carry us and be a positive factor. Exactly that has been the case in the few games that I've experienced with a crowd. They will act as the 12th man. We want to pick up the first home win of the season in front of our fans."

… Union Berlin: "An away trip in Europe certainly does leave its traces. But they were able to wrap up the game against KuPS early on and could make changes in plenty of time. They have one and a half feet in the next round. Union Berlin have had a super pre-season, have progressed in the DFB-Pokal and also made a good impression against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The team is very stable."

…the Augsburg match: "We felt pure joy after the match. A result like that was perhaps not to be expected, but we were performing well throughout pre-season. It was a good start to the Bundesliga campaign, but it was only the first matchday."

Head-to-head record:

The two teams have met on four previous occasions in the Bundesliga. TSG won the first two meetings 2-0 and 4-0 respectively. Then, last season, head coach Sebastian Hoeness and his men lost 3-1 in Sinsheim before drawing 1-1 in the capital.

The opposition's form:

The men from Berlin kicked off their Bundesliga campaign with a 1-1 draw at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. On Thursday, Urs Fischer's side were in action in the qualifying rounds of the Conference League, and they will travel to Sinsheim with the wind in their sails after winning 4-0 away to KuPS.

Match facts and statistics »