Hertha Berlin vs Bayern Munich – Betting Tips & Bundesliga Preview

Former Bayern Munich player and manager Jurgen Klinsmann now faces his former club in his new role as Head Coach of Hertha Berlin as Bundesliga action returns following the Winter break. Although Klinsmann lost his first game at the Olympiastadion at the end of November when Borussia Dortmund won 2-1, the performances of Hertha have improved significantly since that game, and they now host a Bayern team which will be aiming to improve upon their relatively poor showing during the first half of the campaign. However, can Klinsmann and his players further dent the title aspirations of the reigning champions?

Hertha Berlin entered the Winter break by staying unbeaten throughout December which included two victories from four Bundesliga matches and culminating in a 0-0 stalemate on home soil with title contenders Borussia Monchengladbach. Having narrowly won both friendly games during the early part of this month, there will be renewed optimism at Berlin as they seek to climb the league table in the coming weeks. Although Bayern will be formidable visitors, the target for Hertha will be to register a fourth successive clean sheet in league action.

For Bayern Munich, more consistency will be the key focus during the first weeks of this second half of the season as they surprisingly lost four matches during their opening seventeen games. Yet four consecutive competitive victories up to the start of the Winter break was an encouraging sign although two of those wins arrived a couple of very late goals in both fixtures. A 5-2 loss at Nurnberg in their only recent friendly game will be a concern while defeats at Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach from early November onwards could be proof that the Bavarian team may be vulnerable on the road, although they were reduced to ten players during the early stages of that first defeat.

Team News

Arne Maier is the only real doubtful starter at Hertha Berlin as he seeks to recover from a knee injury with Marvin Plattenhardt expected to recover from an illness.

Kingsley Coman (knee), Niklas Sule (knee), Lucas Hernandez (ankle ligaments) and Javi Martinez (thigh muscle) are not expected to feature for Bayern Munich while Serge Gnabry could be absent after suffering an achilles injury during the Winter break training camp and then suffering from flu. Joshua Kimmich is suspended for this game, but Robert Lewandowski is hopeful of recovering from groin surgery.

Prediction

Prior to the arrival of Klinsmann as Head Coach, Hertha Berlin had registered just one clean sheet all season, and two were conceded in each of the two matches following his appointment. Yet in subsequent competitive games, no opposition team has netted against Hertha which suggests that the former US National Coach has concentrated on stabilising a vulnerable defence. Although Bayern scored fourteen goals in their final four competitive games of December, they scored only once during those two away losses at Frankfurt and Monchengladbach. Therefore, a good bet may be for Under 2.5 goals priced at 11/5 with Bet365.

A second pick is for a Winning margin of One Goal for Bayern Munich offered at 11/4 by Bet365. Glancing at the form of Bayern Munich this season shows that the Bavarian team have netted in every competitive game, with Robert Lewandowski failing to score in four of seventeen Bundesliga matches played. It is also worth noting that the last six league encounters between these two teams have been fairly tight affairs with four draws and a win apiece which suggests that another close game may be forthcoming with favourites Bayern possibly emerging as narrow winners.