THE eyes of the footballing world will fall on the German capital on Friday night as Hertha Berlin play host to fierce rivals Union Berlin inside an empty Olympiastadion.
Both respective Berlin clubs have enjoyed contrasting seasons to date with Union prospering in their maiden campaign in the Bundesliga, while Hertha's has been filled with a series of erratic episodes – the capital club are now on their fourth manager of the season.
Yet, under new boss Bruno Labbadia, Die Alte Dame appear to have benefited from the famed “new manager bounce” after recording an impressive 3-0 victory away at Hoffenheim last Saturday.
Consequently, Labbadia and Co have leapfrogged their noisy neighbours in the Bundesliga table and Hertha will be desperately targeting another three points on Friday night at the expense of their city rivals.
However, Union have adapted admirably to life in the Bundesliga – Urs Fischer's side currently occupy 12th place in the table and they look well equipped to beat the drop in their first-ever season of top-flight football
The Iron Union will make the cross-city trip following a 2-0 defeat at home to Bayern Munich last Sunday, however, the Eastern Berlin outfit will take confidence from their historic derby triumph in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
The Betting Odds
Hertha go into this battle as 13/10 (Bet365) favourites to claim Berlin derby bragging rights.
Union have avoided defeat in their previous two trips to the Olympiastadion, however, an away win on Friday night is an unfancied 23/10 with UniBet and a share of the spoils pays 47/20 with the same firm.
The Betting Angles
I spoke about the fact that Hertha Berlin games have been goal-heavy this season on this week's edition of the Gambala Betting Podcast and I fancy that trend to continue in the German capital on Friday night.
Before the Bundesliga came to halt, 76% of Hertha's league games had seen over 2.5 goals scored and our man KevinMac struck gold last Saturday by successfully backing three or more goals in Berlin's brilliant win away at Hoffenheim.
In doing so, Hertha Berlin's last six league outings have now seen over 2.5 goals land and I was pleasantly surprised to see a repeat here priced up at 19/20 with BetVictor.
What's more, Union Berlin's last five road trips have racked up over 2.5 goals – all of which adds to the appeal of going for goals at the Olympiastadion.
With that in mind, I'm also attracted to the 5/4 (William Hill) on offer for Hertha to strike twice during this showdown.
Labbadia's side have scored two or more in their last three Bundesliga outings and that coupled with the fact that Union Berlin's backline have conceded at least twice across the same stretch of matches adds weight to the argument of backing the hosts to find the back of the net on two or more occasions on Friday night.
Hertha have a wealth of attacking talent in their ranks with the likes of Matheus Cuhna, Kryzsztof Piatek and Veded Ibisevic – all of whom possess tools that could trouble their rivals rearguard.
It's also worth noting that Hetha's last three home games have generated a whopping 13 strikes and that's another reason why i'm leaning towards goals in what should be a captivating contest in the German capital.
This German Bundesliga match between Hertha Berlin and Union Berlin will be played on May 22, 2020 and kick off at 19:30. Check below for our tipsters best Hertha Berlin vs Union Berlin prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.