Hertha vs Borussia Dortmund preview

January 18, 2018
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

The 1-0 defeat to Stuttgart may have ended Hertha’s bright run of results, but Pal Dardai’s side still have a chance to fight for European positions.

Borussia Dortmund occupy the final Champions League berth at the moment, and they’ve got quite a few teams breathing down their necks.

Hertha Berlin have seriously raised its profile in recent years, securing Europa League qualification last term, and they are again in the hunt for European places.

It is clear that the European campaign took the wind out of their sails this term, but there is still more than enough time to salvage the season.

Hertha ended 2017 in style with back to back wins over Hannover and RB Leipzig, but the narrow defeat to Stuttgart was definitely not the best way to start the New Year.

Pal Dardai’s men are now set to face top 6 rivals Borussia Dortmund at their Olympiastadion, and they will be looking to return to winning ways.

Apart from Karim Rekik, the head coach will be able to choose from fully fit squad as Peter Pekarik has recovered from a back problem.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Jarstein – Pekarik, Stark, Lustenberger, Plattenhardt – Maier, Skjelbred – Weiser, Kalou, Lazaro – Selke.

This has proved to be a very difficult season for Borussia Dortmund, who did manage to show some improvement after former FC Koln boss Peter Stoger took over.

Just like their next opponents, the Millionaires also won their last two league fixtures in 2018, defeating Mainz and Hoffenheim, but were then eliminated from the DFB Pokal by Bayern Munich.

The New Year started with a goalless draw vs Wolfsburg, so no doubts Borussia will be eager to try and win at Olympiastadion.

That will be no easy task considering that said win over Mainz was the first on the road after four games, but BVB have been made 2.05 (21/20) favourites to claim maximum points.

It remains to be seen whether wantaway striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be part of the squad, with Alexander Isak and Andre Schurrle ready to replace him if needed.

Several important players continue to miss out as Marco Reus, Maximilian Philipp, Sebastian Rode, Marcel Schmelzer and Raphael Guerreiro are all in the treatment room.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Burki – Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak, Toljan – Kagawa, Weigl, Gotze – Yarmolenko, Aubameyang, Sancho.

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