Against all odds, it will be Hertha and Hoffenheim vying for the final Champions League berth in Bundesliga, with TSG heading into Friday’s clash with a five-point advantage.

The team from Berlin obviously need to win if they want to keep their top 4 hopes alive, and it has to be noted they did really well on home soil in recent weeks.

Hertha had enjoyed a brilliant start to the current campaign, but then suffered a huge dip in form at the turn of the year, losing five of seven matches in the space of two months.

Team’s performances on the road have been a major issue, as they failed to pick up a single point from last six, but at least they have been quite convincing at their Olympiastadion.

Hertha won impressive 10 of 12 home games in the current Bundesliga campaign, and they can now be backed at 2.80 (9/5) to defeat Hoffenheim as well.

The hosts have serious selection problems considering that Schieber, Kurt, Maier, Lustenberger, Duda, Weiser and Plattenhard are all unavailable.

Defender John Brooks should return after recovering from tendon injury, but Salomon Kalou will have to settle for a place on the bench as he has yet to fully overcome a muscle problem.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Jarstein – Pekarik, Langkamp, Brooks, Mittelstadt – Stark, Skjelbred – Haraguchi, Darida, Stocker – Ibisevic.

Hoffenheim have flourished under the guidance of arguably the world’s most talented coach Julian Nagelsmann, who took over the team fighting for their lives and took them to the brink of Champions League qualification.

With just nine games to go, TSG sit one point behind third-placed Dortmund and five clear of Hertha Berlin, meaning they can all but secure a top 4 finish with a win at Olympiastadion.

Similar to their next opponents, Hoffenheim have been thoroughly impressive at home, winning 8 and drawing 3 of 11 home fixtures this season, but their performances on the road leave something to be desired.

Even though they managed to score in last four away fixtures, Hoffenheim failed to win any of those games, losing to RB Leipzig and Wolfsburg before sharing spoils with Schalke and Freiburg.

The good news is that head coach Julian Nagelsmann has no fresh injury worries, while Kevin Vogt will return to the side.

Probable starting line-up (3-1-4-2): Baumann – Sule, Vogt, Hubner – Rudy – Kaderabek, Amiri, Demirbay, Zuber – Wagner, Kramaric.