Hertha Berlin take on Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Friday, with the hosts in danger of slipping into the relegation zone after picking up only one point from their last five games.
Bayern, meanwhile, can extend their lead at the top of the table to 10 points with a victory.
Match preview
© Reuters
Hertha started the New Year in some style with a 3-0 win over Schalke 04, but despite having another four consecutive matches against fellow teams in the bottom half of the table, one draw and three defeats saw them slip down the table ahead of Saturday's trip to in-form Eintracht Frankfurt.
A quiet first half would have pleased new manager Pal Dardai in his first game in charge since replacing Bruno Labbadia, with Krzysztof Piatek's 66th-minute opener looking like helping them earn a crucial victory. However, Hertha's defensive deficiencies were on full display with Andre Silva equalising barely a minute later, with Martin Hinteregger and Silva both scoring late on to guide Frankfurt into the top four positions with a 3-1 win.
The days of consistently challenging for the European places must feel like a distant memory to Hertha fans, with three consecutive bottom-half finishes looking like regressing even further with a relegation battle this campaign.
Only a surprise win against reigning champions Bayern on Friday will guarantee Hertha remaining outside of the bottom three places by the end of the weekend, with Dardai hoping he can have a huge impact in his first home game in charge of the club.
© Reuters
Bayern, meanwhile, secured a fourth consecutive league victory with a 4-1 win over Hoffenheim on Saturday, maintaining their seven-point lead over RB Leipzig at the top of the table.
Jerome Boateng and Thomas Muller looked like giving Bayern a comfortable two-goal deficit heading into the half-time interval, but Andrej Kramaric had other ideas against the Bavarians once again by keeping the visitors' hopes alive with a fine 44th-minute effort.
However, Hoffenheim were largely kept at arms' length by Hansi Flick's side, with Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry both scoring three minutes either side of the hour mark to secure another important three points as Bayern look to wrap up a ninth successive Bundesliga title.
Flick will feel ultra confident of securing a fifth consecutive league win ahead of next week's trip to Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup.
Hertha Berlin Bundesliga form: WLDLLL
Bayern Munich Bundesliga form: WLWWWW
Bayern Munich form (all competitions): LLWWWW
Team News
© Reuters
Hertha are likely to remain without Javairo Dilrosun, Dedryck Boyata, Jhon Cordoba and Marvin Plattenhardt due injury.
Dardai will almost certainly stick with Piatek up front after his ultimately fruitless goal against Frankfurt.
Bayern, meanwhile, will travel to Berlin without Corentin Tolisso, Javi Martinez, Leon Goretzka and Tanguy Nianzou due to injury.
Leroy Sane and Niklas Sule will be hoping for starts after only being used from the bench in the win over Hoffenheim.
Hertha Berlin possible starting lineup:
Jarstein; Klunter, Stark, Torunarigha, Netz; Ascacibar, Tousart; Lukebakio, Guendouzi, Cunha; Piatek
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Sule, Boateng, Alaba, Davies; Kimmich, Roca; Sane, Muller, Gnabry; Lewandowski
We say: Hertha Berlin 1-4 Bayern Munich
We expect Bayern to have far too much offensive quality for their opponents on Friday night.
Hertha have the third worst defensive record in the league this season, so while it would be no surprise to see them threaten in behind Bayern's high line on occasion, Lewandowski will be licking his lips at the prospect of extending his record-breaking goalscoring run away from home.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bayern Munich win with a probability of 78.89%. A draw had a probability of 12.8% and a win for Hertha Berlin had a probability of 8.27%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayern Munich win was 0-2 with a probability of 9.47%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-3 (9.26%) and 1-2 (8.36%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (5.7%), while for a Hertha Berlin win it was 2-1 (2.52%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 6.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Bayern Munich would win this match.
