Hertha Berlin will be relegated from the Bundesliga if they fail to claim all three points against VfL Bochum at the Olympiastadion on Saturday.
With two games remaining, the club from the capital find themselves rock bottom of the table – five points inside the automatic drop zone and six points from certain safety – with the relegation play-offs looking like their only realistic hope of survival.
Although Bochum remain just one point clear of the bottom three, their destiny is now in their own hands following a crucial victory over Augsburg last weekend, meaning Thomas Letsch’s men will take another giant step towards safety if they win Saturday’s relegation six-pointer.
In truth, it is not difficult to understand why Hertha Berlin find themselves in such a predicament, as they have managed to win only six of their 32 league games this season, recording seven draws and 19 losses along the way.
Die Alte Dame head into Saturday’s showdown on the back of a 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Cologne, meaning they have lost five of their previous six matches while conceding 18 goals.
Having managed to win just one of their last 10 Bundesliga games – recording two draws and seven defeats in the process – Hertha look destined to drop into the second tier for the first time since 2012-13.
Bochum, meanwhile, ended a six-game winless run by sealing a much-needed victory over Augsburg last time out, with a Jeffrey Gouweleeuw own goal supplementing strikes from Christopher Antwi-Adjei and Anthony Losilla to hand the Blues a pivotal win in front of their home fans.
Thomas Letsch’s men have been wildly inconsistent in recent weeks, recording three wins, three draws and three defeats across their past nine matches, but they will be confident of avoiding the drop after last weekend’s triumph.
That said, Bochum have been woeful on the road this season, winning just two of their 16 away league games while suffering 12 defeats, so Hertha will fancy their chances of heaping more away-day misery on the Blues.
The hosts can also take confidence from their impressive record in this fixture, as Bochum have only managed to win three of their last 23 meetings with Die Alte Dame. However, the Blues defeated Hertha 3-1 in the reverse fixture back in January, thanks largely to a brace from Philipp Hofmann.
In terms of team news for Saturday’s clash, Hertha will be without suspended forward Jessic Ngankam due to an accumulation of yellow cards, while Kelian Nsona (ACL), Tolga Cigerci (calf) and Filip Uremovic (head) are injured.
On the flip side, Bochum’s injury list contains Patrick Osterhage (muscle), Mohammed Tolba (ACL) and Kostas Stafylidis (hip), while Jordi Osei-Tutu and Moritz Broschinski are doubts due to illness.
Expert Insight: Given that Pal Dardai’s men are drinking in the last chance saloon, Hertha Berlin are expected to throw everything at Bochum. However, the hosts have lost five of their previous six matches, so they will likely struggle to claim all three points on Saturday.
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