Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Prediction: Team News and Lineups Preview

bettingexpert’s very own Jack Wright is here to run the rule over a Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin prediction, team news, lineups and fixtures preview in the Bundesliga.

Our Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin prediction is for the match to end as a 1-1 Draw.

Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Prediction, Team News, Lineups and Fixtures Preview

1. Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Prediction: Benedict Hollerbach Over 1.5 Shots

In this article:

• Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Team News and Possible Lineups
• The Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin, League Standings Prediction
• Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Stats
• Hoffenheim Fixtures
• Union Berlin Fixtures
• Safer Gambling

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This week’s bettingexpert Football Podcast looking ahead at the weekend’s schedule

And if you’d rather see the Podcast, Daniel Jenkins, and Sam Ingram in all their glory, here’s the YouTube video.

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Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Prediction: Hollerbach Goal? Two shots will do

Germany, Bundesliga, Saturday, February 17th, 14:30 (UK)

Hoffenheim conceded for the 16th consecutive Bundesliga game in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with relegation threatened Cologne. Things could have been a lot worse had Andrej Kramarić not grabbed an equaliser in added on time.

That was a third successive league draw and stretched their run without a win to seven games. A string of results which has seen Die Kraichgauer slip to 8th in the table and five points adrift of the European places.

Pellegrino Matarazzo will be hoping that his side can replicate the clean sheet achieved in the reverse fixture. A shut out that remains the only one achieved by his side this season.

After a terrible start to the campaign which saw them lose nine of their opening 11 league games, Union Berlin are up to the relative safety of 15th.  A 1-0 defeat of Wolfsburg at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei last weekend opened up a five point buffer to the relegation places but also closed the gap to 11th placed Augsburg to just two points.

Relatively safe

Four of their six wins this season have come since the arrival of Nenad Bjelica as Head Coach. The Croatian will be keen to exploit the home defence who have conceded the third most goals in the German topflight this term.

The former Kaiserslautern midfielder may well have the tools at his disposal to do that in the strike partnership of Kevin Volland and Benedict Hollerbach. My focus is on the latter who now seems to be the top option to lead the attack alongside his more well-known partner.

The 22-year-old has been in and out of the side across the season but has now started the last five fixtures. He has scored three times in his last 553 minutes of action, equating to a goal every 184 minutes.

But I am looking at shots here and the fact he has taken 18 in his last eight starts with at least two in six of those games. The odds of 1.80 for him to have at least two here look big against a side conceding close to 16 per game on average. The fourth highest in the Bundesliga.

• Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Prediction: Benedict Hollerbach Over 1.5 Shots (TRACKED BET)
• Best Odds: 1.80
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stakes: 10/10

Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Prediction odds via bet365 as at 09:00, February 15th, 2024. Odds may now differ.

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Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Team News and Possible Lineups: Old timers

TSG Hoffenheim’s starting eleven has an average age of 28 years and 187 days this Bundesliga season, while Union Berlin’s average is 28 years and 278 days – only VfL Bochum have an older such starting XI than these two teams (29 years, 237 days).

Against Wolfsburg, Union Berlin’s Kevin Volland was directly involved in his sixth goal this Bundesliga season (2 goals, 4 assists), the best tally for Union Berlin. Volland played his first 132 Bundesliga games for TSG Hoffenheim from 2012 to 2016 (33 goals).

Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:

Baumann; N’Soki, Grillitsch, Kabak; Skov, Tohumcu, Prömel, Kaderabek; Beier, Kramric; Bebou

Union Berlin possible starting lineup:

Rennow; Leite, Doekhi, Knoche; Gosens, Khedira, Tousart, Kral, Schäfer; Hollerbach, Volland

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The Predicted Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin, Bundesliga Standings by BETSiE

Our in-house predictive model, BETSiE, has had a go at predicting the Bundesliga standings ahead of the Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin, currently 8th vs 15th, fixture by utilising the underlying data from the 2023/24 season up until this point.

For more league-specific BETSiE content including standings, probabilities and predictions, visit her page here – it’s worth it.

Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin Standings Prediction

Position	Club	Game	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Bayer Leverkusen	34	25.9	6.4	1.8	84.0	25.0	59.0	84.0
2	Bayern Munich	34	25.6	3.9	4.5	93.9	33.3	60.6	80.8
3	Stuttgart	34	22.3	3.2	8.5	80.1	41.3	38.7	70.1
4	RB Leipzig	34	18.4	6.6	9.0	72.6	43.4	29.2	61.9
5	Dortmund	34	16.8	9.6	7.6	67.6	47.4	20.2	60.0
6	Eintracht Frankfurt	34	12.1	10.8	11.1	48.1	47.9	0.2	47.1
7	Freiburg	34	12.6	7.1	14.3	43.9	56.8	-12.9	44.8
8	Hoffenheim	34	11.7	8.7	13.6	58.6	63.5	-4.9	43.7
9	Werder Bremen	34	11.5	7.9	14.6	47.9	54.9	-6.9	42.4
10	Augsburg	34	9.9	10.9	13.2	49.8	58.9	-9.2	40.5
11	Heidenheim	34	10.4	8.7	15.0	46.2	62.0	-15.9	39.7
12	B. Monchengladbach	34	9.7	9.8	14.5	55.3	62.7	-7.4	38.9
13	Bochum	34	8.4	12.9	12.7	41.4	60.3	-18.9	38.2
14	Wolfsburg	34	9.9	8.0	16.2	39.8	53.9	-14.1	37.6
15	Union Berlin	34	9.9	6.0	18.1	35.6	56.1	-20.5	35.7
16	Mainz	34	5.6	12.3	16.2	30.8	51.6	-20.8	28.9
17	FC Koln	34	5.8	9.5	18.7	28.8	63.1	-34.3	26.8
18	Darmstadt	34	4.4	8.5	21.1	35.1	77.2	-42.2	21.7

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Match OPTA Stats: Get it in the Mixer, Union Berlin

• Union Berlin are winless in their last 10 away games in the Bundesliga (2D 8L), with their last and only success away from home this season coming on matchday two in a 4-1 win against promoted side Darmstadt. Only Mainz are currently waiting longer for a win away from home in the league (15 games).
• Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric scored in his fourth Bundesliga home game in a row in the 1-1 draw against FC Köln – a joint-club record for a TSG player, last achieved by Sandro Wagner in 2016. The Croatian has scored three goals in his three BL home games against Union.
• Union Berlin have scored 45% of their goals this Bundesliga season via headers (9 out of 20), the highest share in the league. On the other hand, TSG Hoffenheim have conceded only 5% of their goals this Bundesliga season from headers – a joint-league low along with FC Bayern.

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Hoffenheim Fixtures: Not the easiest of schedules

• Vs Union Berlin (H)
• Vs Dortmund (A)
• Vs Werder Bremen (H)
• Vs Frankfurt (A)
• Vs Stuttgart (H)

Union Berlin Fixtures: Likewise in Berlin

• Vs Hoffenheim (A)
• Vs Heidenheim (H)
• Vs Dortmund (H)
• Vs Stuttgart (A)
• Vs Werder Bremen (H)

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Safer Gambling

At bettingexpert, we always take a safe approach to gambling. We’ll never bet more than we can afford or chase losses. For more advice, head to our Safer Gambling hub.