Saturday, November 29, 2014

Hertha Berlin vs. Bayern Munich Preview

Bayern Munich take on Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga this weekend looking to return to winning ways following a disappointing defeat last time out.

The Bavarian giants travel to the German capital on the back of a 3-2 reverse at Manchester City in the Champions League in midweek - a defeat which Pep Guardiola admitted had taught his near-faultless side a "big lesson".

Having played 70 minutes of that game with 10 men following defender Mehdi Benatia's dismissal, Hertha will be hoping to capitalise on any signs of fatigue that may have setted in.

Despite losing at the Etihad Stadium, Bayern's progress to the knockout stages of Europe's showpiece competition had already been confirmed, while domestically speaking things are also looking rosy.

Top of the Bundesliga table with a seven-point lead over second-placed Wolfsburg, Die Rotten are well on course to retaining their league crown, with a potential treble still on the cards.

Guardiola's men have yet to lose a game in the German top-flight this season, and if Hertha are to change that then they will need to halt their poor run of form, which has seen them lose their last six games while conceding 24 goals in the process.

The Old Lady can hold claim to having the fourth-worst defence in the division, which does not bode well with visitors Bayern having scored 31 goals in their last 12 league outings.

Three of Berlin's four victories this season have come in front of their home supporters, meanwhile, with Roy Beerens likely to start up top at the Olympic Stadium following his strike against FC Koln last weekend.

In terms of the visitors, Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze were unused substitutes in the aforementioned defeat against Man City, meaning that they are both likely to start from the off on Saturday.

The game may come too soon for Bastian Schweinsteiger to start, though, with the midfielder featuring from the bench in his side's last two matches.

Hertha Berlin:

Form in Bundesliga: WLWLLW
Form in all competitions: LWLLLW

Possible starting lineup: Kraft, Schulz, Brooks, Ndjeng, Hosogai, Hegeler, Skjelbred, Ben-Hatira, Stocker, Beerens, Schieber

Bayern Munich:

Form in Bundesliga: WWDWWW
Form in all competitions: WWWWWL

Possible starting lineup: Neuer, Rafinha, Benatia, Boateng, Bernat, Alonso, Ribery, Gotze, Muller, Robben, Lewandowski

Kick Off Time - 15:30HRS

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