BERLIN (Reuters) - Union Berlin's position as Bundesliga leaders is more than just a momentary snapshot with the minnows having now led the title race for the past four weeks.
With Borussia Dortmund visiting the Alte Foersterei stadium on Sunday, Union are in fine form but are also already guaranteed a top two spot after the weekend matches even if they lose.
Union are on 20 points, with Freiburg in second place on 18 and Bayern Munich and Dortmund on 16 in third and fourth respectively.
But Urs Fischer's team are not going to just roll over to accommodate their bigger name opponents, with Union having conceded half the goals of Dortmund in their nine league games so far and having lost just once compared to Dortmund's three league defeats.
With a three-man backline and a hardworking five-man midfield, Union have been extremely solid and difficult to break through, delivering the league's best defence so far.
Their attack is equally efficient with Sheraldo Becker and Jordan having scored nine of their 16 league goals as well as seven of their eight goals in their home matches in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund staged a confidence-boosting two-goal comeback to snatch a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich last week but their performance in their 1-1 against Sevilla in Tuesday's Champions League group match was far from inspiring, prompting criticism from captain Mats Hummels.
"It has to be clear to some that football does not have to be sexy but that a player must do the right thing and not sometimes only the special thing," Hummels said in comments that caused a stir.
Hummels got the full backing of his coach Edin Terzic who demanded more precision from his team and pledged that his players would bounce back with a strong performance in Berlin.
"These are words that have left my mouth as well," Terzic said. "We are not precise enough in our passing game. But we have had a tough schedule in the past week with three matches. Maybe some freshness is lacking.
"We need to play more precise and efficient football. We will try to improve and we have our next chance on Sunday in Berlin."
Champions Bayern are also in action on Sunday, hosting Freiburg, who have also defied early expectations to sit in second place.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
