Kovac warns Dortmund: Union Berlin trip will demand their limit

Dortmund need a response after a bruising week

Niko Kovac has warned Borussia Dortmund they will have to “push ourselves to the limit” to beat Union Berlin, cautioning his team against expecting an easy away trip on Saturday.

Dortmund sit second in the Bundesliga, behind Freiburg on goal difference, with 13 points from five matches. Their perfect start ended last time out when they surrendered a 2-0 lead against Werder Bremen, conceding twice after the 87th minute to draw 2-2 at Signal Iduna Park. A 1-0 Champions League defeat to Bodø/Glimt followed during the week.

‘It’s going to be intense’

“We want to take three points there. But we know how difficult it is there,” Kovac said. “Last season we won 3-0, but it was still a tough battle right up to the last second. I expect the same.”

Kovac said Union had shown their trademark aggression and intensity in their latest match, a 1-0 win over Elversberg that delivered their first victory of the season. “We’ll have to push ourselves to the limit and win the battles they force upon us. If you think you can just go there and coast through the game, it’ll be tough,” he said. “Many teams have already learned that the hard way.”

Union are 16th after five Bundesliga matches, but have collected all four of their points in the 2026-27 league season at home. They have scored four of their five league goals from set-pieces, the highest proportion in the division, according to the report.

Numbers favour Dortmund, but Union have a threat

Dortmund have won their first two away matches in the 2026-27 Bundesliga season. They have also won three consecutive league away games, their first such run under Kovac. Union, meanwhile, have lost their last three Bundesliga meetings with Dortmund without scoring, conceding 12 goals across those games.

Union winger Livan Burcu has registered 14 take-ons, including nine successful ones, in the 2026-27 Bundesliga season despite playing 215 of a possible 450 minutes. He scored the winner against Elversberg. For Dortmund, Nico Schlotterbeck scored in the teams’ January 2026 meeting; the report also says he has six Bundesliga goals since the start of the 2025-26 season, the most among current centre-backs in the competition over that span.

Dortmund’s own set-piece return has been comparatively modest: one of their 11 league goals in the 2026-27 Bundesliga season has come from a dead-ball situation. The match prediction favours the visitors, with Opta’s win probabilities listed as 57.1% for Dortmund, 22.1% for a draw and 20.8% for Union.