Saturday’s final matchup of German Bundesliga Week 12 will take place at Olympic Stadium in Berlin between Hertha team that is coming off from a high-scoring 3:3 draw against the Wolves in Round 11 and Monchengladbach squad that couldn’t secure the full prey against relatively weak Mainz team at home (1:1).
Both squads are poised to start strong after the extended resting period during the international break, in order to secure the best possible starting position before the second part of the season. Hertha BSC also has some UEFA Europa League duties that could provide the team with the much-anticipated appearance in European competition’ stage next spring. Let’s take a closer look.
Hertha BSC vs. Borussia Monchengladbach
Three-Way: 1: Hertha BSC +210; X: +250 Draw; 2: Borussia Monchengladbach +165 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread 0: Hertha BSC +120; Borussia Monchengladbach -123
Total +2.5: Over -105; Under +102
HERTHA BSC
The team from German capital has been playing some mediocre soccer during this first part of the season and they definitely won’t be able to secure the European team competitions berth if they continue in this manner. The Blue-Whites are also not set in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League where they rank last in group J with four points earned, but there is still a chance of finishing at one of the first two spots because there are two more rounds in schedule and all four teams are ranked under three points difference. The battle on two fronts is probably the reason they’ve been underperforming but that’s what the next level of soccer is all about.
The Grand Dame (nickname for Hertha BSC team) currently ranks at No. 11 spot in the league table with 14 points earned and a 3-5-3 record (3-2-1 at home). In the home Bundesliga table they rank at No. 7 spot with 11 total points earned. Their goal difference is 14-15 (9-7 at home) and they’ve managed to concede at least one goal in each of their last 10 matches including at least one goal conceded in each of their last five home games. 50% of Hertha’s home duels had over 2.5 goals in total while only 18% of their overall games had over 3.5 goals in total. Both teams scored in 64% of Hertha’s showdowns and most common score at home was 2:1 win (occurred twice).
Head coach Pal Dardai usually uses the 4-4-2 scheme with Pekarik, Langkamp, Rekik, and Plattenhardt as defensive linemen and Weiser, Stark, Skjelbred and Kalou as midfielders while Lazaro and Ibisevic operate strictly up front. Midfielder Mathew Leckie remains the team’s leading scorer with four goals so far while Salomon Kalou has three. Leading assisters are Vedad Ibisevic and Marvin Plattenhardt with three each while passing segment belongs to defender Karim Rekik with 423 total passes. Goalie Rune Jarstein has 143 shots against, 39 saves and one clean-sheet game at the moment while Marvin Plattenhardt has three yellow cards recorded making him the most undisciplined player in the team.
Niklas Stark (calf) and Vladimir Darida (knee) should be back in action during the next month while Valentin Stocker’s (meniscus) status is unknown. Karim Rekik (Illness), Palko Dardai (toe), Mitchell Weiser (hip), Matthew Leckie (thigh) and Fabian Lustenberger (calf) are all listed as doubtful while Julian Schieber (knee) is back in training.
BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH
As I’ve mentioned before, when Borussia Monchengladbach goes down they go down hard but fortunately for them, it occurred only three times in first 11 rounds (2-12 goal difference during that span). The squad has also managed to lose every third matchup since the beginning of the season and guess what, on Saturday it will be their third duel without a loss. Squad definitely has the potential for some quality results this year but aforementioned breakdowns should be brought to the minimum if they want to have shot at one of the top six spots that lead to the European team competitions next year.
They currently rank at No. 8 spot in the league table with 18 points earned and 5-3-3 record (2-2-1 on the road). In the away league table they rank at No. 9 spot with eight points collected. They score 1.55 and concede 1.73 goals per match (17-19 goal difference) and 80% of their visiting duels had over 2.5 goals in total while 45% of their overall games had over 3.5 goals in total. The team managed to score at least one goal in each of their last eight matches including last five road games and 60% of those visiting duels had over 2.5 goals at half-time (largest percentage in Bundesliga). The Foals also managed to concede at least one goal in both halves in 40% of their matches while both teams scored in 80% of those games. The most common result on the road is a 2:2 draw (occurred twice).
Similar to his next opponent, coach Dieter Hecking prefers the 4-4-2 scheme. Wendt, Vestergaard, Elvedi, and Jantschke mostly start as defensive linemen while Grifo, Zakaria, Ginter, and Hazard usually operate in the middle of the field. Raffael and Stindl play up front with strictly offensive assignments. Thorgan Hazard, Lars Stindl and Jannik Vestergaard top the team in scoring with three goals each while Nico Elvedi and Vicenzo Grifo collected team-high two assists each. Passing segment belongs to defender Matthias Ginter with 564 total passes while goalies Yann Sommer and Tobias Sippel have 172 shots against, 35 saves and three clean-sheet games combined. Vestergaard, Stindl and Denis Zakaria have been booked three times each while no Monchengladbach’s player has yet been sent off.
Laszlo Benes (broken foot) should be back during the next month while Tobias Strobl’s (cruciate ligament) timetable for return is set in early February next year. Ibrahima Traore’s (thigh) and Jonas Hofmann’s (knee) status is unknown while Raul Marcelo Bobadilla (hip) and Mamadou Doucoure (thigh) are both back in training.
Hertha BSC vs. Borussia Monchengladbach – Match Prediction
These two squads haven’t split the points since April 2012 with one of the teams always taking the full prey. Much more successful is the squad from Monchengladbach with six wins in last seven duels. Last season the home teams dominated the matchups (3:0 Hertha’s win in Berlin and 1:0 Borussia’s win in Monchengladbach).
Another interesting fact is that both teams usually don’t score when these two meet (15-11 in favor of this outcome in last 26 duels) but that should not be the case on Saturday. That’s why my pick here will be at least one goal scored by both team but not too much in total and definitely not over 3.5 goals in total.
My pick: Both teams to score to YES (-130)
