Lions look for a win to keep the pace

(updated August 28 23:20)

Grünwalderstrasse, Munich - A big city duel is scheduled today at Allianz Arena as TSV 1860 Munich will host 1. FC Union Berlin, kickoff at 13:30. The main goal for the Bavarians will be to earn three points.

After the defeat suffered one week ago in Düsseldorf, Munich's head coach Reiner Maurer wants his team to return their winning ways. "We want 12 points in the table, so that we can stay close to the top of the table before the international break. With that amount of points we could say we had a good start to the season. But it will be tough."

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Union Berlin come in with seven points after winning their last game against Bochum, but can be inconsistent. "They are a good team with ambitions," analyzed Mauer.  "But they had a lot of up and downs until now. They also are a very aggressive team with robust players."

Torsten Mattuschka is in Maurer's eyes their most dangerous player, a threat that his team will have to handle come gametime. "I am scared of Mattuschka, he is an excellent player who is very good at free-kicks."

As for TSV's line-up Maurer reassured that Daniel Halfar and Stefan Aigner will be part of the starting eleven, while Collin Benjamin will need some other time in order to recover from his injury. "My team will have to be more aggressive than our opponents," admitted Maurer as a key to victory. "We will have to take advantage of our technical superiority. Of course we will try to score from set pieces, despite the fact that Berlin are a very physical team."

Until now 1860 have won all their home games in this young season. Will they manage to get their third win in a row in the Munich Arena? Like their last home match against Aue, at least 20,000 supporters are expected to attend the match. A win is necessary in order to rebuild the Lions' self-confidence after their loss in Düsseldorf and to keep flirting with promotion thoughts.