Prediction: Hertha Berlin vs Bayern Munich

Verdict: Robert Lewandowski to score two or more goals

Best odds: 6/4

Bookmaker: Betfair

Hertha will be welcoming Bayern Munich to the Olympic Stadium in the German capital on Friday evening, for a match belonging to 20th round of the Bundesliga season. An important match for both teams, but for very different reasons.

Hertha Berlin

It hasn’t been a very good season for Hertha. Having finished comfortably in the middle of the Bundesliga table last term, they are now closer to the relegation zone than they would want to be. They are in 15th place with 17 points, the same as Arminia Bielefeld in 16th which leads to the relegation play-offs at the end of the campaign. Only Mainz 05 (17th, 10 points) and Schlake 04 (18th, eight) are below these two teams. FC Koln are in 14th with 18, and then come three teams with 22 – Augsburg, Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen.

This situation has recently resulted in the sacking of Bruno Labbadia as the head coach, and the appointment of Pal Dardai in his place. However, the team did not fare well in Dardai’s first game in charge, which they ended up losing to Eintracht in Frankfurt after goals from Andre Silva (two) and Martin Hinteregger overturned Krzysztof Piatek’s opener, all in the second half.

Hertha managed to win only one of their last six Bundesliga outings, drawing another one and losing the other four. The win was a 3-0 one at home against Schalke, then came a 1-0 defeat away to Arminia, a 0-0 draw away to Koln, a 0-3 defeat at home to Hoffenheim, a 1-4 defeat at home against Werder – Labbadia’s last game in charge, and the already mentioned 3-1 defeat in Frankfurt.

A fierce battle against relegation seems to be their fate for 2020-21.

Team News

Dardai has no reason to replace Piatek upfront, as his goal against Eintracht offers some hope of the Polish striker finding the back of the net again. However, he will be without the services of winger Javairo Dilrosun, defenders Dedryck Boyata and Marvin Plattenhardt, and striker Jhon Cordoba, all through injury.

Bayern Munich

Things couldn’t be more different for the defending champions. Even when they dropped points in the title race, they rarely felt it a big loss as their rivals mostly did the same in the same rounds.

At the moment, they seem quite fine at the top of the table with 45 points, seven more than RB Leipzig in second place, 10 more than Wolfsburg in third, and 12 more than Eintracht in four. There’s a long way to go yet, but Borussia Dortmund can probably already forget about challenging Bayern again, sitting sixth with 32 points, the same as Bayer Leverkusen in fifth. It is a great way for the Bavarians to continue down the same path as last season, when they won Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, topping it off with their sixth Champions League trophy.

Bayern’s last six record would have been perfect had there not been for the unexpected 3-2 defeat away to Borussia Monchengladbach on January eight. Before that, they thrashed Mainz 5-2, and after they beat SC Freiburg at home by 2-1, Augsburg away by 0-1, Schalke away by 0-4 and Hoffenheim at home by 4-1.

Hans-Dieter Flick’s team are again successful in UEFA’s elite club competition. They topped Group A comfortably, leaving the likes of Atletico Madrid, RB Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow behind, and they now await a two-leg duel with Serie A side Lazio in the round of 16.

Team News

Flick won’t be taking midfielders Corentin Tolisso, Javi Martinez and Leon Goretzka to the capital, as well as defender Tanguy Nianzou. All four players miss out due to injuries.

Conclusion

Regardless of where this game is being played, any outcome that’s not a comfortable Bayern win would be a great surprise. And you can hardly talk about Bayern these days without paying at least some attention to Robert Lewandowski.

The incredible Pole has so far scored 27 goals in 25 games in all competitions in 2020-21, and at that rate, you’ll always want to back him to make a mark. This time he might just do more than that.

Verdict: Robert Lewandowski to score two or more goals

Best odds: 6/4

Bookmaker: Betfair