German Bundesliga - Hertha Berlin vs. Eintracht Frankfurt - Preview & Prediction

After ending a six-game unbeaten run with a defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund, 9th-placed Hertha Berlin will try to bounce back while playing host to 11th-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, who are trying to avoid relegation this season. Kick-off - at 9:30 AM ET on Saturday, June 13.

Hertha Berlin Fail In Dortmund

Manager Bruno Labbadia finally lost a game while in charge of his new team Hertha Berlin, ending a four-game unbeaten run (W3 D1) following a 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday. The hosts dominated in ball possession (64%) and outshot the Old Lady 13-4, with the visitors managing just a single shot on target, eventually allowing Dortmund’s winning goal in the 58th minute of the game. Prior to the loss, Hertha Berlin had gone without a defeat for six matches (W3 D3). The team is 9th in the Bundesliga with a W10 D8 L12 record, sitting seven points off a place in the top-six.

Belgian-Congolese winger Dodi Lukebakio leads Hertha Berlin with six strikes, but has managed to net just one goal in his last nine Bundesliga games. Goalie Rune Jarstein, meanwhile, is 3rd in the league’s goalkeeper chart, having made 96 saves in 26 appearances this season. He has recorded eight clean sheets and allows a goal every 57 minutes of play. The Old Lady is 8th in most goals scored thus far this year (43), the bottom of the league in most shots taken per game (10.8), 13th in ball possession (46.9%) and 11th in passing accuracy (77.5%).

Frankfurt Lose Two In Row

A two-game winning streak came to an end for Eintracht Frankfurt, who followed up away victories against Wolfsburg (2-1) and Werder Bremen (3-0) with a 2-0 home fiasco versus Mainz at Commerzbank Arena on Saturday before dropping the DFB Cup Semi-final against Bayern Munich with a count of 2-1 at Allianz Arena four days later. Right-back Danny Da Costa scored the only snipe for the Eagles throughout the pair of fixtures, netting the 1-1 second-half equalizer versus Bayern before the reigning Bundesliga champions banked the victory with 15 minutes remaining. Eintracht Frankfurt are 11th in the league (W10 D5 L15), sitting seven points above the bottom three.

Portuguese striker Andre Silva and Austrian center-back Martin Hinteregger top Frankfurt’s scoring chart with eight markers each. Goalie Kevin Trapp, meanwhile, sits 15th in the Bundesliga with 67 saves. He has posted four clean sheets in 19 games this season and concedes a goal every 50 minutes on average. The Eagles have scored the 6th highest number of goals per game this year (49), while delivering the 3rd highest amount of shots per game (14.9). The team is 8th in ball possession (49.0%) and 4th from the bottom in passing accuracy (75.5%).

Prediction

Hertha Berlin manager Bruno Labbadia has never lost against Eintracht Frankfurt as a coach (W5 D6) and is certain to motivate his new side enough for another quality showing, with the Old Lady having already gone unbeaten versus the Eagles on the last four occasions (W2 D2). Eintracht Frankfurt have already dropped six of their past nine decisions (W2 D1 L6) and have managed to triumph just once in their previous 11 encounters with Hertha Berlin (W1 D6 L4). On top of a win for the Old Lady, expect quite a few goals here as well! The last 10 Bundesliga games of the Eagles have averaged 4.10 markers per fixture, while eight of the previous 10 league outings of Hertha Berlin have all seen at least three snipes on the scoresheet.

Best bets:

Hertha Berlin to win (+105)

Over 2.5 goals (-175)

Dodi Lukebakio to score anytime (+230)