Bundesliga's basement club Greuther Furth will welcome Hertha Berlin to the Stadion am Laubenweg on Saturday afternoon as they seek to extend their unbeaten home run to five matches.
The visitors, meanwhile, have not won any of their last five away games in the top flight, failing to score on four occasions in the process.
Match preview
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Greuther Furth were unable to extend their unbeaten run to five matches as they were beaten 4-1 away at Wolfsburg last weekend.
The visitors went into half time level after Branimir Hrgota's 44th-minute penalty cancelled out Aster Vranckx's seventh-minute opener; however, the hosts ran away with the victory after the break, condemning Stefan Leitl's men to their 15th league defeat of the season.
Furth remain at the foot of the Bundesliga table, but they are now 12 points adrift from safety following Augsburg's 2-0 win over Union Berlin.
The Cloverleaves have preferred playing in front of their home supporters this campaign, accumulating nine of their 10 Bundesliga points at the Stadion am Laubenweg this season. Eight of those points have come in their last four home matches with Leitl's side conceding only one goal in the process.
The odds seem firmly against Furth avoiding the drop this term, but if they are to pull off a miracle, they will need to return to winning ways quickly, and Saturday's fixture against another team positioned at the wrong end of the table could be the perfect opportunity for them to claim maximum points.
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Hertha Berlin extended their unwanted winless run to five matches across all competitions when they drew 1-1 at home against VfL Bochum last Friday.
Ishak Belfodil broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute with just his second league goal of the campaign; however, the hosts were unable hold onto their lead as Sebastian Polter equalised three minutes after the break to rescue a point for the visitors.
That result has seen Tayfun Korkut's side slip down to 14th in the Bundesliga table, just one point clear of the relegation playoff position.
Hertha have won all three of their previous meetings with Furth, scoring two goals in each, including their 2-1 home victory in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
With challenging fixtures against RB Leipzig, Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt to come, Korkut will feel that Saturday's match will be their best chance to return to winning ways and claim a much-needed three points as they bid to avoid the drop.
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Team News
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Greuther Furth trio Robin Kehr (ACL), Marius Funk (ACL) and Jessic Ngankam (ligament) all remain sidelined with long-term injuries, while Marco Meyerhofer is ruled out with COVID-19.
January signing Andreas Linde was an unused substitute in the defeat at Wolfsburg, but the goalkeeper could be handed his debut this weekend at the expense of Sascha Burchert.
Paul Seguin, Max Christiansen and Timothy Tillman could all retain their places in centre-midfield, while Hrgorta is set to be joined in attack by Jamie Leweling and Jeremy Dudziak.
As for Hertha Berlin, Korkut is having to deal with a lengthy list of absentees, with Kevin-Prince Boateng (stomach), Dedryck Boyata (ankle), Jurgen Ekkelenkamp (leg), Marton Dardai (ankle), Rune Jarstein (knee), Oliver Christensen (hip), Nils Korber (knee), Kelian Nsona (ligament) and Marc-Oliver Kempf (illness) all sidelined.
Former Manchester City striker Stevan Jovetic was able to shake off a calf injury and play the full 90 minutes against Bochum, and the Montenegro international is set to be handed another start in attack alongside Belfodil.
Greuther Furth possible starting lineup:
Linde; Asta, Griesbeck, Viergever, Willems; Seguin, Christiansen, Tillman; Dudziak, Leweling, Hrgota
Hertha Berlin possible starting lineup:
Schwolow; Pekarik, Stark, Lotka, Mittelstadt; Richter, Ascacibar, Serdar, Maolida; Belfodil, Jovetic
We say: Greuther Furth 2-2 Hertha Berlin
Goals are to be expected on Saturday as the two teams with the worst defensive records in this season's Bundesliga, conceding 99 goals between them, lock horns in Bavaria.
Hertha came out on top the last time that they faced Furth, but they may have to settle for just a point on this occasion in a closely-fought contest.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 Greuther Furth win with a probability of 40.07%. A win for Hertha Berlin had a probability of 33.89% and a draw had a probability of 26%.
The most likely scoreline for a Greuther Furth win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.61%) and 2-0 (6.84%). The likeliest Hertha Berlin win was 0-1 (8.9%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.37%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Greuther Furth would win this match.
