The Bundesliga dishes up a tasty relegation six-pointer on Saturday afternoon, with bottom club Hertha Berlin hosting fellow strugglers VfB Stuttgart at the Olympiastadion.
Hertha find themselves five points behind second-bottom Schalke 04 and six points from safety, while Stuttgart sit just outside the bottom three on goal difference, with VfL Bochum occupying the dreaded relegation play-off spot.
The Old Lady parted company with Sandro Schwarz last month, bringing back Pal Dardai for a third stint as manager. However, the returning boss has failed to stop the rot at the Olympiastadion, as Hertha Berlin have suffered back-to-back defeats since Dardai’s arrival.
In fact, Hertha have lost each of their last four Bundesliga games, with defeats to RB Leipzig and Schalke preceding losses against Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich. Worse still, Hertha have managed to win just two of their previous 15 league outings, suffering 11 defeats in the process.
Not only are Hertha Berlin the third-lowest scorers in the division, but they also have the second-worst defensive record, so it is hardly surprising that Dardai’s men find themselves rooted to the foot of the table with only four games remaining.
In contrast, VfB Stuttgart have profited from a managerial change in recent weeks. When Sebastian Hoeness replaced Bruno Labbadia last month, the Reds occupied last place in the table. Now, they find themselves outside the bottom three altogether.
After kicking off his reign with a 3-2 victory over relegation rivals VfL Bochum, Hoeness oversaw draws with Borussia Dortmund and FC Augsburg before masterminding a 2-1 win against Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend.
Although Stuttgart suffered a DFB-Pokal semi-final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday, the Reds remain unbeaten in the Bundesliga under Hoeness, having taken eight points from a possible 12 since the managerial switch.
It is worth remembering that Stuttgart claimed a 2-1 victory over Hertha Berlin in the reverse fixture back in November. As a result, Hertha have managed to win just two of their last eight Bundesliga meetings with the Reds.
To make matters worse for Hertha, they could be without as many as eight first-team players this weekend, with Kevin Prince Boateng, Kelian Nsona, Tolga Cigerci, Rune Jarstein, Tjark Ernst, Marton Dardai, Stevan Jovetic and Marco Richter all expected to miss Saturday’s clash due to injury.
On the flip side, Konstantinos Mavropanos is Stuttgart’s sole injury doubt ahead of the trip to the capital. Having netted 10 goals in 22 appearances across all competitions this season, top scorer Serhou Guirassy is the visitors’ biggest attacking threat.
Expert Insight: While Stuttgart have experienced an impressive revival since Hoeness took charge, Hertha Berlin have continued to lose games under Dardai. Accordingly, Stuttgart will be confident of strengthening their survival bid while heaping more misery on lowly Hertha.
Bundesliga