Crowd disturbances in last months last minute defeat to Nurnberg mean only 25,000 fans will be led in as much of the stadium has been closed down. Hertha Berlin are desperately trying to get away from the bottom position in the Bundesliga while Stuttgart are fighting for access to Europe at the top of the standings.

Hertha Berlin
League position: 18th (last) on 22 points
Ruled out: none
Home game record: 1-6-7

Coach Friedhelm Funkel will  see the return of Florian Kringe, Patrick Ebert and Rasmus Bengtsson to his squad and this will be a welcomed boost as Hertha are looking to make a Houdini escape from the relegation zone if they are to save themselves. Currently they are last with 7 points to salvation and with only 5 games to play they need a miracle. With the leagues worst home game record it looks like an uneven matchup in a “half empty” stadium. Their last 5 home games spells no optimism as they are 0-3-2 with especially the game against Nürnberg leaving them gutted. In that game they were in front but ended up loosing 2 minutes into extra time. A result that trigged the crowd which went onto the pitch to display their frustration. Their last home game resulted in a goalless draw with Borrusia Dortmund but time is running out and the question remains if the players really believe in it. They are however coming off a fresh win at 1.FC Köln in the last round.

Stuttgart
Ruled out: Alexander Hleb
League position: 7th on 44 points
Away game record: 5-4-5

At the other end of the table Stuttgart is also fighting their own battle but it is a much more promising one. However it didn’t start out like that but since new coach Gross took over in December, Stuttgart have managed to pull well into contention for the European spots, currently fighting against teams like Wolfsburg, Hamburg and Frankfurt with only one spot available. They took a deep run into the Champions League this season which undoubtedly has affected their Bundesliga performances. For this game the will welcome the return of Cacau who has been a major factor lately scoring a lot of goals. He has already stated that he will leave the club after the season so he is playing the remaining games as a sales object which should spark his performances. Their last 5 away games are 3-1-1 with their last game proving an impressive win at Bayern Munich 2-1. They will be missing Alexander Hleb for this game which will of course affect their offense as he is still a good breakthrough player.

Conclusion
Regardless of their last win at 1. FC Köln, I do not think that Hertha belives that they can create the miracle comeback needed. Only a win counts in their books and hence they will be forced into attacking. This is “sweet music” for Stuttgart as they can play a bit more defensive and rely on counter attacking. In my mind, Stuttgart is a much better team, they are playing for position against the team with the worst home game record.Stuttgart will hand Hertha the final blow and send them to the 2nd Bundesliga and recommend betting on Stuttgart to win.