Hoffenheim vs. Hertha Berlin Betting Preview – Bundesliga, May 16

There were a lot of changes at Hoffenheim during the offseason, but the influx of new arrivals has just about worked, allowing the club to hover just below the European places for most of the season.

The visiting team this weekend, on the other hand, is enjoying another chaotic season. Life is never boring at Hertha, and its fourth manager of the campaign will be hoping that he can be the one to bring some much-needed stability to the club.

Read on for my Hoffenheim vs. Hertha Berlin prediction and betting pick.

Hoffenheim is tagged as the favorite by BetOnline, but the relatively favorable odds for Hertha suggest that there is a belief that new boss Bruno Labbadia can bring the best out of what is actually a good-looking squad in the capital. Both teams tend to ship goals, so this could be an entertaining game.

After a rocky start to the season, Hoffenheim settled down as the new players started to get used to their new surroundings. Although there has never really been the suggestion that a European spot is attainable, a good run of results could at least put some pressure on the teams just above.

There have been very good wins against Bayern, Dortmund, and Leverkusen, but Hoffenheim has tended to drop points against the clubs in the middle of the Bundesliga, and that is not the way to climb the table with any consistency. Hertha is a club that the home side needs to beat.

But who knows which Hertha team will turn up? Bruno Labbadia has now had some time to work with his players, so we might see the kind of performance that has seemed possible on many occasions but hasn’t quite come to fruition. But if he can get the best out of Matheus Cunha and Krzysztof Piatek, then there might be hope.

Those two arrived during the January transfer window in an attempt by Hertha to save what was turning into a nightmare of a season. It is just about working at the moment, but there is a long way to go before this team is challenging further up the table.

A lot will depend on whether Cunha and Piatek can click right back into gear after such a long layoff. There were signs of that happening before the break, although Cunha did look like he was getting frustrated with the rest of his Hertha teammates on a number of occasions. Hoffenheim should be able to just concentrate on its own game to pick up a valuable win here, though.

For regular betting picks in a variety of sports and leagues, visit our predictions and picks blog.