Joachim Low’s new-look German side face a stiff test first up when they lock horns against the Netherlands in their European qualifier in Amsterdam on Sunday night. Low’s 23 member team contains just three players who were part of Die Mannschaft’s World Cup winning squad in Brazil five years ago- goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, midfielder Toni Kroos and defender Matthias Ginter
We got a glimpse of this youthful German outfit in action a few days ago against Serbia. Leon Goretzka came off the bench to earn a point at the Volkswagen Arena for the home side, who didn’t look very great in action, as shown by these post-game German media player ratings (6 being a terrible performance, and 1 being a very good one)
Leroy Sane was the recipient of a horror tackle from Milan Pavkov towards the end of the game against the Serbs, but the Man City winger is expected to be fit for this clash. Low will be wondering whether or not to start with RB Leipzig marksman Timo Werner, who was outplayed by his opposite number Luka Jovic. The troika upfront will definitely have Sane, with Werner, Marco Reus and Serge Gnabry potentially fighting for two spots.
Low has already confirmed that Kroos and Joshua Kimmich will start in midfield, but did not confirm whether Matthias Ginter would take the field. Ginter would usually expect to be part of a back three alongside Niklas Sule and Antonio Rudiger, with Nico Schulz and Thilo Kehrer expected to play as wingbacks.
According to Big Bets, Germany are underdogs for this clash (41/20 in comparison to the Dutch being quoted at 7/5), and a look at their recent form tells us why. Joachim Low’s side have won just one of their last five games.
Germany recent results & goal scorers
Germany 1-1 Serbia (Goretzka)
Germany 2-2 Netherlands (Werner, Sane)
Germany 3-0 Russia (Sane, Sule, Gnabry)
France 2-1 Germany (Griezmann pen)
Netherlands 3-0 Germany
Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands are also in a bit of a rebuilding phase themselves after missing out on both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, but their star is on the ascendancy. They’ve lost only one of their last ten games and with emerging talents like Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkied de Jong to complement more established stars like Virgil van Dijk, Gini Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay, the Oranje are again starting to look like a force to contend with.
The Dutch have a bit of a head start over their opponents- while this is Germany’s first qualifying game, Koeman’s men have already begun their campaign with a 4-0 win over Belarus. Right back Denzel Dumfries picked up a groin injury in that fixture, but is expected to recover in time for this one.
Netherlands recent results & goal scorers
Netherlands 4-0 Belarus (Memphis*2, Wijnaldum, Van Dijk)
Germany 2-2 Netherlands (Promes, Van Dijk)
Netherlands 2-0 France (Wijnaldum, Memphis pen)
Belgium 1-1 Netherlands (Groenevald)
Netherlands 3-0 Germany (Van Dijk, Memphis, Wijnaldum)