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Benfica's home form will see them past Hertha

Every season, a club escapes from relegation in a manner so heroic and unimaginable that it washes all previous unthinkable survival bids away. Hertha Berlin look on course to be that team this season.

After 12 games, over a quarter of the way into the Bundesliga season, they had four points. Even at the halfway stage they had just six. Now suddenly, only six games on, they are up to 15 and a mere two shy of the relegation play-off spot, and four off of total safety.

Of course, the decisions of Freiburg and Hannover, after promising starts, to practically just give up has offered a huge helping hand, with both freefalling and losing 3-0 at home to the capital club, but we prefer to look at the positive side of the story.

Hertha have lost just once in seven this year and after claiming a 1-1 draw against Benfica in the first leg in Germany, may now fancy their chances of knocking one of the frontrunners for the tournament out.

We're not convinced for two strong reasons. The first is that Hertha Berlin are being forced into action just two days after a draining six-pointer away to Freiburg in the league, whereas Benfica have handily had a weekend off to regroup.

Equally significant is the Portuguese side's magnificent recent record at the Stadium of Light, where they've won 14 of their last 15, their only loss in that spell coming in the Taca de Portugal.

If the [1.38] on the Eagles' soaring is too short, then take the home clean sheet at [1.95] instead. Benfica have conceded just once in the last five that they have hosted and once in four Europa League home games. 2-0 is the best pick for correct score at [7.0].

Disagree with us? You can back Hertha to progress at [5.2]...

Published: 23 Feb 2010 - Tags: Angel Di Maria , Benfica , Hertha Berlin