Two sides from opposite ends of the Bundesliga table last season meet on the second weekend of the new campaign on Saturday as Hertha Berlin host Wolfsburg.
The two teams will look back on the beginning of the new league season with opposite fortunes as well, as they prepare to meet at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Match preview
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Hertha would have hoped to begin the new campaign in a positive fashion after a disappointing season overall last year. The Berlin side have invested heavily in recent years but languished down in 14th place, only two points above the relegation playoff spot.
Manager Pal Dardai's first full season in charge started off with a disappointing 3-1 defeat away to fellow strugglers of last year, FC Koln, on the opening day.
After being appointed in January, the Hungarian managed to turn his sides performances and results around after an initial blip, finishing with just a single defeat in their final nine matches.
Prior to the opening-weekend defeat to Koln, Hertha enjoyed an impressively productive pre-season schedule, which saw them remain unbeaten over their six friendlies.
Following on from there, the first competitive match of the season saw Hertha edge out third-tier side SV Meppen 1-0 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal thanks to a Davie Selke injury-time winner.
Dardai will now be looking to get their first points of the season on the board on Saturday against an opponent that they have only beaten once in their last eight meetings.
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Wolfsburg arrive in Berlin with their first win of the campaign secured - a 1-0 victory at home to newly-promoted VfL Bochum saw them earn the expected result but perhaps not perform at the expected levels.
Facing a side returning to the Bundesliga for the first time since 2010, and one that is expected to struggle this year, Wolfsburg only scraped the win despite home advantage and their opponents being reduced to 10 men after only four minutes.
Last season's top goalscorer Wout Weghorst missed the resulting penalty but did go on to redeem himself with the only goal of the game midway through the first half.
However, they would fail to extend their lead despite the advantage and despite missing a host of clear chances.
The opening-day struggles continued a common theme lately for the away side; new manager Mark van Bommel oversaw five defeats out of six in their pre-season schedule, while they have been disqualified from the DFB-Pokal after using an illegal sixth substitute in a poor 3-1 win over fourth-tier side Preussen Munster.
Although, after a troubling start in charge, the new manager will be hoping for back-to-back wins to open the new Bundesliga campaign, as they look to repeat the successes of a fourth place finish last season.
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Team News
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Hertha Berlin captain Dedryck Boyata returns in central defence for the home side and this may see a change in formation from the defeat to Koln; a couple of other alterations in personnel are to be expected as they look to get their first points on the board.
Forward Matheus Cunha may be rotated after starting last weekend, despite only just returning from his Gold medal triumph with Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics; Davie Selke may replace him in the front line.
New forwards Suat Serdar and Stevan Jovetic made positive starts to their Hertha careers, with the latter scoring the opening goal of the game, and they are expected to keep their place in the starting lineup.
Veteran goalkeeper Rune Jarstein remains short of fitness and striker Krzysztof Piatek is still carrying an ankle injury, so both are ruled out.
Meanwhile, Wolfsburg are likely to stick to the same starting lineup that edged out Bochum in the opening game, despite an unconvincing display.
Renato Steffen was replaced after just an hour in that match due to a slight knock, but he is expected to be fit enough to start again.
William and Bartosz Bialek remain unavailable due to long-term knee injuries, whilst Aster Vranckx, Paulo Otavio and Daniel Ginczek have also been ruled out.
Talented forward Josip Brekalo remains a doubt due to a slight knock, which kept him out of the win against Bochum.
Hertha Berlin possible starting lineup:
Schwolow; Boyata, Stark, M Dardai; Zeefuik, Tousart, Ascacibar, Plattenhardt; Serdar, Selke, Jovetic
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Mbabu, Lacroix, Brooks, Roussillon; Schlager, Arnold; Baku, Philipp, Steffen; Weghorst
We say: Hertha Berlin 1-1 Wolfsburg
This match is a tight one to call due to the relative struggles of both teams in terms of performances, if not results. Despite Wolfsburg's much higher finish in the Bundesliga last season, we believe that this one will be a score draw due to Wolfsburg being away from home.
Top 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 Wolfsburg win with a probability of 45.52%. A win for Hertha Berlin had a probability of 30.2% and a draw had a probability of 24.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wolfsburg win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.26%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.81%) and 0-2 (7.19%). The likeliest Hertha Berlin win was 2-1 (7.3%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.33%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-2 win for Wolfsburg in this match.
