The Berliner Derby is one of the headline acts in this weekend's Bundesliga fixture list but the two teams could barely have any more contrasting fortune as of late as the hosts, Hertha, sit second from bottom while Union sit second from top, having won the return game 3-1 at home back in August.
The visitors are fresh off of a hard-earned victory at the Weserstadion over Werder Bremen which puts them one place and three points behind leaders Bayern Munich and dreaming of a European tour.
Meanwhile, Die Alte Dame have had a rotten season so far with just three wins from 17 matches leaving them in the automatic relegation zone, only ahead of Schalke.
In their two fixtures since the return from the winter break they have fallen 3-1 to relegation rivals Bochum and were then embarrassingly dismantled 5-0 at home to Wolfsburg on Tuesday night. Head Coach Sandro Schwarz is under immense pressure and a derby clash against their high-flying neighbours is hardly the tonic he needed.
Urs Fischer's Union have come out of the traps after the winter break with wins over Hoffenheim and the afore-mentioned victory over Bremen. This is after they had a very rocky pre-World Cup run-in which saw a frustrating 2-2 draw at home to Augsburg sandwiched between harrowing 5-0 and 4-1 defeats away to Leverkusen and Freiburg respectively.
Many thought that this was the bubble bursting for Die Eiseren but they have shown plenty of steel to bounce back strongly and could hardly have wished for a better time to take on their capital city rivals.
To the more causal observer of German football, Union's squad is not packed with household names but they are an extremely well-drilled outfit under Fischer.
Their latest signing Josip Juranovic arrived from Celtic and has already endeared himself to the Union faithful as the Croatian international full-back provided a debut assist for Kevin Behrens' winner against Werder.
As well as the derby on Saturday, they have a DFB Pokal quarter-final tie at home to Wolfsburg just three days later and a very intriguing Europa League Round of 32 tie against Ajax to come in February.
To emphasize the point of Union being greater than the sum of their parts, their top scorer - Suriname international Sheraldo Becker - has seven goals, which is the same as Hertha's top scorer Dodi Lukebakio.
Union have had one set-back with Norwegian right back Julian Ryerson leaving to join Borussia Dortmund but they quickly moved to replace him with Juranovic. Word on the grapevine is that they are close to snapping up Tunisian midfielder Aissa Laidouni from Hungarian champions Ferencvaros.
In contrast to their rivals, Hertha's squad has plenty of well-known names such as Stevan Jovetic, Kevin Prince-Boateng and former-Everton man Jonjoe Kenny. With attacking prowess such as Jean-Paul Boetius and the afore-mentioned Lukebakio as well as seasoned German internationals Maximilian Mittelstadt and captain Marvin Plattenhardt at the back. Hertha are proving that big names aren't everything but are massively under-performing.
With the congested nature of the bottom of the Bundesliga, they are only two points from safety but need to turn things around quickly or risk being dragged to the doldrums with Schalke. After only surviving after beating Hamburg in the play-off last year, another relegation battle is on the cards.
It has also been a turbulent time off the pitch at the Olympiastadion with controversial majority stakeholder Lars Windhorst selling his stake in the club in November but there has been some cost-cutting measures in the January window. Deyovaisio Zeefuik, Davie Selke, Lee Dong-Jun, Vladimir Darida and Linus Gechter have all headed out the exit door.
Team News
For the hosts, the only player missing after the defeat to Wolfsburg is Uruguayan defender Agustin Rogel who will serve a one-match ban after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season. Striker Florian Niederlechner was acquired by Hertha from Augsburg this month in a bid to kick-start their attacking line but he has yet to make an appearance due to injury and is not expected to return for this clash. Other long-term absentees Stevan Jovetic, Kelian Nsona, Rune Jarstein and Chidera Ejuke are still well off a return.
For Union, the only absentee is Norwegian midfielder Morten Thorsby who is not yet fit to return following an abdominal strain picked up in a friendly against St Pauli during the winter break. Otherwise, Urs Fischer has a fully fit squad to pick from.
Likely Line-ups
Hertha Berlin: Christensen; Kenny; Plattenhardt; Kempf; Mittlestadt; Tousart; Richter; Sunjic; Serdar; Lukebakio; Kanga
Union Berlin: Ronnow; Juranovic; Doekhi; Knoche; Leite; Trimmel; Haraguchi; Khedira; Haberer; Becker; Behrens
Key Players
Oliver Christensen
It may seem strange to select a goalkeeper as a key man but whenever your side has conceded eight goals in two games and are coming up against a high-flying visitor then the Dane's performance between the pipes could be crucial if Hertha are to even think of getting anything from this one. Of course, his defence in front of him will have plenty of work to do but he will need to be on top of his game to stop this in-form Union side.
Josip Juranovic
The arrival of the Croatian international was somewhat of a domino effect. The departure of Julian Ryerson to Die Schwarzgelben and the arrival of Canadian international Alistair Johnston to Celtic may seem completely unerlated but they were the catalyst for Juranovic to arrive at Stadion an der Alten Foresterei. His performances for the Scottish champions and for his national side in their run to the World Cup semi-finals caught many an eye across Europe but he has joined Urs Fischer's band of merry men and he impressed on debut during the week and will hope to contribute more again on Saturday.
Match Details
Where is the game being played?
The game will be played at the Olympiastadion, home of Hertha Berlin
What time is kick-off?
Kick off is at 2:30pm GMT on Saturday
Where can I watch?
The game is not live for viewers in the UK but you can follow all the news, views and updates of Bundesliga right here on VAVEL.
Explore more stats, standings and news on VAVEL Data: Hertha BSC · Unión Berlín
