Hertha Berlin-Vfl Bochum
Olympic Stadium
Saturday, 30th January 2010 – kickoff 15:30

Hertha Berlin

Hertha are improving bit by bit and after winning the first match after the winter break against Hannover, they drew goalless in the last round against Monchengladbach which is a good sign for the team that had miserable 6 points in the first part of this season.

Theophanous Gekas is good addition for the club and he is on loan from Bayer Leverkusen until the end of this season. He scored goal against Hannover and was a major threat to the opponents `goal in the last two rounds.

Hertha Berlin have only one home win this season and its probably a good time to get the second one in front of their fans against their direct rival from the bottom in order to keep their hopes for survival alive.

Coach Friedhelm Funkel is taking things seriously as he has held closed training sessions during the whole last week and has forbidden his players to talk to the press. There were some reports that in case Hertha loses to Bochum three important team players (including the captain Arne Friedrich) will be sold out to different clubs, but that news was quickly rejected by the club`s president who said that those news are just speculations.

There are no reports of absent players and the starting line up will be the same that was on the pitch against Monchengladbach.

Vfl Bochum

Bochum are ten points ahead of Hertha Berlin and just three points clear of the relegation places currently sitting at 14th place with twenty points.

The team did a small miracle in the last round against Schalke when they were two goals down just eight minutes before the end of the match and still managed to secure one point against the big favorite.

Coach Heiko Herrlich usually uses offensive formation when playing away but now he will start with only one attacker- Stanislav Sestak, because Diego Klimowitz and Kevin Vogt are out of the team at the moment.

Bochum brought a new player in the squad - Lewis Holtby, who joined the team on loan until the end of this season from the local rivals Schalke 04. Another good signing who can contribute to the team`s attack is the 21-year old Goran Slavkovski, who has made three appearances for the Macedonia Under-21 national team. He is lacking matches so he will start playing with the second team until he reaches full fitness.

Slovenian international Zlatko Dedic, who got injured in the last round, is not available for selection, as well as Yahia who is still at the African cup of nations.

The Betting Verdict

This is a derby match of the bottom and both teams expect tough games ahead which make their goal to avoid relegation even harder.

However, Hertha have an excellent record in the duels against Bochum at Olympic stadium in Berlin, where Bochum have not won a single game in the last fifteen years.

Bochum are playing much better away recently as they have taken ten points from the last four away matches.

The tradition is clearly on Hertha`s side as they have managed to win ten times against their rival in Berlin and lost only three times overall.

I give slight advantage to Hertha Berlin (again) as every match for them is a final. Bochum did a fantastic job last weekend but i am not so sure that they will manage to win against the much inspired team from the capital city.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Hertha Berlin 2-1 Vfl Bochum

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Possible Home win for Hertha Berlin