German Bundesliga
2009-05-09 - Hertha Berlin vs Vfl Bochum
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
Olympiastadion
Saturday, 9th May 2009 – Kickoff 15:30
Hertha Berlin (3rd - Home Rec : 11-2-2 27:14)
The Olympic stadium in Berlin will be packed with 70000 fans hoping for another victory for Hertha and push towards the title race.
Hertha Berlin are four points behind the leaders Wolfsburg and this will be important match to win, although it will not be easy because Hertha always has been struggling with lower seeded teams and often failed to deliver when they are clear favorites.
However, this match will be taken seriously because there are not many matches left and all four should be won to keep the title hopes alive.
Last week Hertha managed an away draw with Hamburg which was a small setback from the title race, but having in mind that Hamburg is another title contender the draw was not that bad.
Man of the match from last week`s fixture against Hamburg Gojko Kacar who scored a long distance goal will not be available for this matched because he has picked up fifth yellow card and will have to serve one match suspension.
Ukrainian attacker and the best scorer of the team Sergey Voronin is available again after serving his suspension and this is probably the best time to be back for the team. Marko Pantelic will be up front again but his form has declined recently and he struggles finding the net.
Traore, Friedrich, Riedel and Hartmann are out through suspensions and injuries and will not be able to help their teammates.
Vfl Bochum (14th - Away Rec : 2-6-6 14:21)
Bochum started improving recently, but are far from safe. Bochum have won their last two out of three away matches, beating Mönchengladbach (1-0) and Hoffenheim (3-0) - their only away wins of the whole season.
Coach Marcel Koller gives his best in motivating his players, and actually Bochum does not play that bad, they are creating chances, playing nice but simply can not win. They showed a great character last week against Hannover attacking all the time but unfortunately lost by one goal.
Bochum has four defeats in the last five rounds and it is evident that they are in crisis in the worst time of the year and certainly the big number of injured players has contributed in that.
Bochum have their own calculations for this match, fighting to avoid relegation but it is unlikely to happen anything extraordinary. A major blow for the team will be the absence of a bunch of important players again so I think Bochum will try to keep a clean sheet playing defensively.
Herta will attack them from the beginning, no doubt about that, so the focus will be on the tight defense.
Currently four players are not match fit and one is doubtful. Shinji Ono, Christian Fuchs, Oli Schröder and the leader of the team Diego Klimowicz will not join their team-mates on their trip to Berlin.
The Slovakian international Stanislav Sestak is also doubtful and might play but the chances for that are slim, almost none. Vahid Hashemian might get a chance as an alternative for Sestak, but he is much less creative and experienced as Sestak.
THE BETTING VERDICT
So, all in all, Bochum has slim chances for getting something out of this match, statistics also prove that Bochum rarely gets something when they play in Berlin and I think that tradition will continue furthermore.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Hertha Berlin 2-0 Vfl Bochum
BEST BETTING TIP :
Home win for HERTHA BERLIN and the price is very good at around 1.65
