Union Berlin – Hertha Berlin : Preview & Prediction
It will be an explosive start to the new Bundesliga campaign in Berlin when the city’s two biggest clubs meet once again. Union Berlin head into the new season hoping to pick up where they left off last season, securing their best Bundesliga finish (fifth) and bringing Europa League football to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
However, a summer of big departures, which included that of top scorer Taiwo Awoniyi, means that replicating that success this season might not be easy. The fact that they needed extra time to beat fourth-division Chemnitzer 2-1 in the DFB Pokal on Monday would hint at that. However, the Union can boast of being unbeaten in four consecutive official meetings (G3, E1) with their neighbours, so confidence in starting the season well should be high.
Hertha Berlin endured a very different campaign to their city rivals and had to beat Hamburg in the relegation playoff to avoid relegation to the second division. The club is under new coach Sandro Schwarz now, yet his official reign did not get off to the best start this week when his side conceded four goals away from home in a DFB Pokal penalty shootout defeat to second-division Eintracht Braunschweig.
Securing derby success here would go a long way to attracting fans to his new club, although to do so, he will need to find a remedy for the heated form that plagued Hertha for much of last season. They managed just one win in their last 12 away league games (E3, P8) and failed to score more than one goal in all but one of those matches.
Players to watch: Jordan Siebatcheu, who scored 22 league goals for Young Boys last season, was brought in to replace Awoniyi, and made his official debut for the Union on Monday with a goal. Hertha’s Davie Selke also scored in the cup and has now scored each of his last three official goals before half-time.
Key stat: There has been an average of 3.5 cards shown in the last four official clashes between the two clubs.
Union Berlin – Hertha Berlin : Betting Tips
Union Berlin – Win Odds: 1.75
