Hertha Berlin take on Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on Sunday, with the hosts aiming to move out of the relegation zone by gaining a positive result.

Leverkusen, meanwhile, must arrest their recent downturn in form if they are to have any chance of securing Champions League football next season.

Match preview

Despite their performances improving since the appointment of Pal Dardai in late January, Hertha have slipped back into the relegation playoff position after last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund.

Dardai's side successfully frustrated BVB in the first half, before Rune Jarstein's horrendous error gifted the hosts the lead. Julian Brandt's effort from distance undoubtedly had power, but it should never have been allowed to go through the goalkeeper's arms.

Vladimir Darida then saw red for a vicious tackle on Marco Reus late on, with 16-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko scoring his third goal of the season to wrap up his side's victory.

In fairness to Dardai, who is in his second managerial stint with the club he made 297 league appearances for as a player, he has been dealt an horrendous run of fixtures. Five of his first seven matches have been against the top five teams in the division, with his side unable to pick up a single point in any of them.

While sixth-placed Leverkusen may look like another tough fixture on paper, though, Peter Bosz's side have been in dismal form since the turn of the year, with their surprise defeat at home to Arminia Bielefeld last weekend contributing to Hertha slipping into the bottom three.

There can be no more excuses for Hertha: they must avoid defeat at the very least, otherwise they could find themselves in an automatic relegation place.

Having led the Bundesliga in December ahead of their clash against Bayern Munich, Leverkusen have since taken only 12 points from 13 games, as well as being dumped out of the Europa League knockout stage by Swiss outfit Young Boys.

Bosz's side reached a new nadir at home to strugglers Arminia Bielefeld last weekend, falling 2-0 behind to strikes from Japan internationals Ritsu Doan and Masaya Okugawa either side of half time.

Okugawa's tidy finish was particularly characteristic of the type of goal in transition which Leverkusen concede with too much regularity, with Patrik Schick's late goal proving to be nothing more than a consolation one.

With a four-point gap to fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt and in-form Dortmund overtaking them in the table, Leverkusen appear to be falling short of the Champions League qualification places once again, unless they can quickly rediscover their form from the autumn.

Team News

Hertha will be without Darida for three matches after the midfielder's dismissal against Dortmund.

Eduard Lowen, Sami Khedira and Dedryck Boyata are unlikely to return from injury until after the upcoming international break.

Jarstein could be replaced by Alexander Schwolow in goal after his fatal error against BVB.

Leverkusen, meanwhile, continue to have several injury issues, with Daley Sinkgraven, Lars Bender, Sven Bender, Lukas Hradecky, Santiago Arias and Paulinho all ruled out until after the international break.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Julian Baumgartlinger are out for the season with ACL injuries.

Hertha Berlin possible starting lineup:
Schwolow; Klunter, Stark, Dardai; Zeefuik, Plattenhardt, Tousart, Guendouzi, Mittelstadt; Piatek, Cordoba

Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Grill; Frimpong, Tah, Tapsoba, Wendell; Wirtz, Aranguiz, Demirbay; Bailey, Schick, Diaby

We say: Hertha Berlin 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen

We can envisage an entertaining affair in Berlin on Sunday, with Hertha surely capable of ending their recent losing run against the stronger sides in the division.

Leverkusen leave open spaces in defence, which the likes of Jhon Cordoba and Krzysztof Piatek should be able to expose in order to help their side to a positive result.

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