England (FIFA Ranking 4) v Germany (12), Tue 29th June 17:00The last time these two met in competitive action, Germany swatted England aside 4-1 in South Africa back in 2010. Joachim Low’s side may have been aided by Frank Lampard’s ‘ghost goal’ that wasn’t given, but in truth, they were the better team and in the ascendency as a core of young players were building together ahead of their World Cup triumph four years later.
The old rivals have since squared off four times in friendlies, with Germany edging it W2-D1-L1, though the head to heads have are often tight affairs with five of the last seven settled by just a single goal and another ending in a stalemate. However, this time around it would appear that England are the side going places, and while they haven’t quite ignited this summer so far, there’s certainly plenty of young talent available to Gareth Southgate.
After 37 goals in qualifying, England have managed just two at the tournament and need Harry Kane to find some form, while they’ll likely have to make do without Mason Mount and Ben Chillwell here, as well as Jordan Henderson. The captain did improve in his hold up play last time out though, and as long as the clean sheet remains intact, England will fancy themselves to nick a goal from somewhere to take the contest and advance further.
It’s now 15 shutouts from 19 appearances and although Tyrone Mings played well across the first two games, Gareth Southgate will have been glad to see Harry Maguire come through unscathed against the Czech Republic. The Three Lions have won eight of nine unbeaten matches as they conceded just once, winning by just a single-goal margin in five of the last six as four ended 1-0.
Germany may have been saddled with the group of death, but a topsy turvy final day almost saw Die Mannschaft exit a major tournament at the group stage for a second time running after their shambolic effort in 2018. They did however look vulnerable to the counter attack against Hungary, which may well suit the pace of Raheem Sterling, and have been quite open at the back throughout the group stages.
France may only have triumphed 1-0 but the scoreline could have been more emphatic, particularly with Karim Benzema having a goal ruled out for offside. Meanwhile, although Germany beat Portugal in their most impressive performance, they still conceded twice and a clean sheet would appear unlikely.
In fact, Germany have kept their opponents at bay in just three of their last 17 appearances, and are currently without a clean sheet in six as they even conceded twice to North Macedonia and Hungary, as well as once against Latvia. You can never rule the Germans out, but having also conceded six times when visiting Spain in November, a trip to Wembley may well expose their weak spot.
England -1 Handicap Draw @ 4.3Edited by user 28 June 2021 17:57:42(UTC)
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