Hertha Berlin just refuse to buckle or budge. The capital club with a budget and reputation a fraction of the size of the majority of their Bundesliga rivals continue to carve out a place in Germany’s top-four and now look set for qualification to next season’s Champions League.
It’s a remarkable tale with Pal Dardai’s dogged troops showing no signs of relinquishing their role as the league’s biggest surprise story of 2015/16.
Last weekend’s 2-0 defeat of Schalke at their fortress Olympiastadion home has pushed the Berlin boys four points clear of the fifth-placed Royal Blues.
Hertha have W5-D3-L0 in their last eight as hosts – in six of those fixtures they kept their sheets clean – and that’s their best run of home results since he 2008/09 season. Since Dardai was given the gig, BSC have W10-D7-L3 at the Olympiastadion, shipping goals on only eight occasions.
Indeed, no side has faced as few shots as Hertha and once again they look overpriced as 2.00 shots in the Match Odds against Ingolstadt.
The newly-promoted visitors are on a five-match unbeaten streak and now sit nine points clear of the relegation play-off place – it’s one of the most remarkable stories across the continent as FCI have achieved this despite scoring just eight goals from open play situations.
Ten of Ingolstadt’s last 12 Bundesliga goals have come from set pieces, including two in their 3-3 draw with Stuttgart last time out. The guests have picked up just five points from a possible 30 since their last away win, scoring only four goals, and I reckon they’ll meet their match in the capital.