Preview: Hertha Berlin vs. Eintracht Frankfurt - prediction, team news, lineups

Hertha Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt will be hoping to end their dreadful recent form when they go head to head in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

The hosts are winless in 2022 and dropped further into relegation trouble last weekend, whilst the visitors have won just once in the new year, to leave their hopes of a European spot falling away at an alarming rate.

Match preview

© Reuters

Despite putting in a satisfying performance for large parts of their trip to top-four hopefuls Freiburg last weekend, Hertha still came away empty-handed come the final whistle.

After falling behind to Vincenzo Grifo's penalty early on, the Old Lady remained well in the contest throughout, until a quickfire double from their hosts late on ended their hopes of picking up a positive result.

The defeat was Hertha's sixth from their opening eight games of the year, with their other two encounters finishing level.

An exit from the DFB-Pokal to city rivals Union Berlin has been followed by a slide down the table in recent weeks, with the loss at Freiburg seeing Tayfun Korkut's men drop into the relegation playoff spot of 16th following Augsburg's draw with Borussia Dortmund a day later.

Therefore, a solid run of form is desperately required in the coming weeks, but Hertha will take hope from the fact that Saturday sees them host another side struggling for success of late, as well as their victory at Frankfurt back in October, when Marco Richter and Jurgen Ekkelenkamp netted in a 2-1 scoreline.

In order to achieve a result on matchday 25 however, and in the coming weeks, Korkut must address his side's defensive woes, with 22 goals already being shipped in their eight outings since the turn of the year.

© Reuters

Meanwhile, although Frankfurt's dreadful start to 2022 is unlikely to see them being dragged into a relegation battle, with eight points separating them from their hosts at the weekend, it is a run that has seen their hopes of qualifying for Europe next campaign fall away.

Five defeats and just one victory in their opening seven games this year have resulted in Die Adler dropping to 10th place at the time of writing, with a nine-point gap being opened up between themselves and the top six.

Oliver Glasner's side are therefore desperate for a result and a run of form too, but in order to retain any hope of doing so, the former Wolfsburg boss must find a solution to his side's issues in front of goal, with Frankfurt having failed to find the back of the net in four of their last five matches.

The most recent example of this came last weekend, when Frankfurt were narrowly edged out by league leaders Bayern Munich at the Deutsche Bank Park.

Despite attempting very few shots on the Bayern goal, Frankfurt still managed to create a couple of glorious opportunities, but after failing to find their goalscoring touch once again, Leroy Sane punished them with a strike 19 minutes from time.

Like their hosts at the Olympiastadion on Saturday, the visitors will take positives from the fact that they face another struggling side, particularly a shaky defence in the form of Hertha's, and will be hoping that a successful result can kickstart a revival in form in the coming weeks to reignite their objectives for this season.

Team News

© Reuters

Hertha will be boosted by the return of first-choice goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow on Saturday, after he was forced to sit out last weekend's defeat due to COVID-19 isolation.

Other goalkeeping options Rune Jarstein and Oliver Christensen were also sidelined, and remain absent, meaning fourth-choice keeper Marcel Laurenz Lotka was forced to deputise against Freiburg.

Marc-Oliver Kempf will also return to the squad following a one-match suspension, and he should join captain Dedryck Boyata at the heart of the defence.

Marvin Plattenhardt, Lukas Klunter and Kevin-Prince Boateng are also available following COVID-19 isolations, but Linus Gechter, Marton Dardai and Kelian Nsona are ruled out through injury.

As for the visitors, Kristijan Jakic is likely to return to the starting 11 after serving a one-match ban last weekend, with Ajdin Hrustic likely to make way.

Christopher Lenz is now suspended for Saturday's trip due to his fifth yellow card of the season against Bayern last time out, meaning Filip Kostic should drop into a deeper role, with Rafael Santos Borre coming in from the start in attack.

Diant Ramaj, Sebastian Rode, Ragnar Ache and Goncalo Paciencia are all missing for Frankfurt due to respective injuries.

Hertha Berlin possible starting lineup:
Schwolow; Pekarik, Boyata, Kempf, Plattenhardt; Darida, Tousart, Serdar; Richter, Jovetic, Belfodil

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, N'Dicka; da Costa, Jakic, Sow, Kostic; Kamada, Lindstrom; Borre

We say: Hertha Berlin 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

Both sides head into their meeting on the back of dreadful runs of form, so confidence is likely to be at a low point, and as a result, we are predicting a nervy and tight encounter.

If Frankfurt were still prolific in front of goal during their troubles then we would be going for an away win, but with both defences struggling to record a clean sheet, then we can see both teams finding the back of the net regardless of their poor finishing in recent weeks.

Previews by email