It’s the battle between 4^th and 5^th in the Bundesliga as Hertha Berlin host Hoffenheim in match week 26 of the 2016/17 Bundesliga season. As we get into the business end of the season, both sides will be desperate to get into the Champions League and Hoffenheim are currently in 4^th and set for their maiden Champions League campaign while the hosts are one place below them in 5^th. This is a huge game in the race for European football.

STATS

• Hertha Berlin will need to improve their form if they want to get into the Champions League as they have won 2 of their last 5 games. However, in these 5 games, they have beaten Dortmund and drawn with Bayern, showing they’re strong enough to beat the best teams.
• Hoffenheim have been slightly in their last 5 games with 3 wins and 2 draws. They’ve only lost 2 games all season and are certainly deserving of the European place they are currently occupying. They squeezed past Leverkusen in their last fixture and the 1-0 win put them 1 point from Dortmund in 3^rd.
• Vedad Ibisevic has been in great form for Hertha this season and has been their top goal scorer all season. His 11 goals and 4 assists have been vital for Hertha’s push for their first ever Champions League qualification.
• Hoffenheim’s top goal scorer, Sandro Wagner, has scored the same amount of goals as Ibisevic in the league this season. His strike partner, Andrej Kramaric has been brilliant this season and has scored 8 and assisted 7 goals, only 4 players have contributed to more goals in the Bundesliga this season.

HEAD TO HEAD

Hertha have only won 1 of the last 5 meetings between the two sides with Hoffenheim winning the other 4. The return fixture earlier on this season ended with Hoffenheim winning 1-0 in front of their own fans. Both teams have scored in 6 of the last 9 games in this fixture.

HERTHA BERLIN NEWS

Hertha will be hoping to win this game as it will put them in a great position to qualify for the Champions League. Their task won’t be made any easier by the absence of 4 injured players: Julian Schieber (knee), Alexander Baumjohann (tonsillitis), Fabian Lustenberger (Osteitis pubis) and Ondrej Duda (muscle) will all miss one of the biggest games of Hertha’s season. The players they’ve got instead of the 4 absentees are capable of beating a strong Hoffenheim team as they beat Dortmund only a few weeks ago.

Latest matches: Hertha BSC

18.03.2017	Bund	1 FC Cologne	Hertha BSC	4:2	L
11.03.2017	Bund	Hertha BSC	Borussia Dortmund	2:1	W
05.03.2017	Bund	Hamburger SV	Hertha BSC	1:0	L
25.02.2017	Bund	Hertha BSC	Eintracht Frankfurt	2:0	W
18.02.2017	Bund	Hertha BSC	Bayern Munich	1:1	D

HOFFENHEIM NEWS

Hoffenheim have got a huge chance to strengthen their grip on a Champions League place and put some more space between themselves and Hertha in front of their own fans. They have a fully available squad for the match and should be able to take advantage of this to beat the hosts.

Latest matches: 1899 Hoffenheim

18.03.2017	Bund	1899 Hoffenheim	Bayer Leverkusen	1:0	W
11.03.2017	Bund	SC Freiburg	1899 Hoffenheim	1:1	D
04.03.2017	Bund	1899 Hoffenheim	FC Ingolstadt	5:2	W
26.02.2017	Bund	FC Schalke 04	1899 Hoffenheim	1:1	D
18.02.2017	Bund	1899 Hoffenheim	SV Darmstadt 98	2:0	W

SUMMING UP!

Hoffenheim should run out winners in this one on their own patch but they can’t underestimate the quality and passion of Hertha’s squad and they certainly won’t be easy to beat. Both teams will probably be playing in Europe next season but this game will go a long way to decide whether that’s in the Champions League or the Europa League.