Hertha Berlin vs Hannover 96 Predictions

It wasn’t long ago that Hertha held hopes of a top-six finish, though they’ll now do well to finish inside the top half, such has been the recent form of Pál Dárdai’s men. Sunday’s hosts have lost each of their last five league games and thus need to bounce back. Fortunately, a home match against Hannover presents Hertha with the perfect opportunity to regain the winning thread.

When they last played at this venue, Hertha were somewhat unlucky to lose against Dusseldorf, though they certainly weren’t unfortunate away against Hoffenheim last time out. On that occasion, they failed to get involved offensively, while they struggled massively to contain their opponents. An improved performance is required, even against lowly Hannover.

Fortunately, Hertha’s attacking efforts at home have been promising, even during their recent poor run of form. Sunday’s hosts have scored in each of their last four at home, scoring at least twice in two of their last three. Moreover, they’ve averaged a pleasing 1.76 expected goals for in front of their own fans this season and have recently posted encouraging numbers of 2.07, 1.87 and 2.12. Such figures bode well ahead of a game against a side that has given plenty away on the road.

While the hosts have looked useful going forward on their own patch of late, Hannover have defended miserably on their travels. Sunday’s visitors conceded three away against Wolfsburg last time out, while they’ve now shipped at least three goals in each of their last five travelling matches.

Not only have the visitors, who’ve conceded a whopping average of 2.86 goals awy from home during the current campaign, struggled to keep teams at bay on the road, but they’ve also found it tough to impose themselves offensively. Hannover have scored an average of just one goal per travelling match, which isn’t good enough when they’ve conceded nearly three times that. Moreover, they average a measly 0.9 expected goals for away from home, so creativity is clearly a problem.

From a betting point of view, give the numbers mentioned above, both ‘Hertha to Win & Over 2.5 Goals’ and ‘Hertha to Win & Both Teams to Score’ catch the eye at the current prices. For all they’ve been in poor form of late, the hosts have a gilt-edged opportunity to regain the winning thread. Against a Hannover side that really has shipped a colossal amount on the road, the hosts can thrive going forward, though they too have defensive issues, so it would be little surprise if they failed to keep a clean sheet.