Without Ibrahimovic
Probable starting eleven: Isaksson, Wendt, Majstorovic, Granqvist, Lustig, Kallstrom, Wernbloom, Elm, Larsson, Toivonen, Berg. The biggest news connected with Sweden national team is Zlatan Ibrahimovic missing. After the big Milan derby that was decided exactly by Ibrahimovic, he ask to be rest from this match. Sweden national team coach Erik Hamren accept his demand and he won`t play here. I think this is the big handicap for Sweden.
In good series
Probable starting eleven: Neuer, Beck, Westermann, Mertesacker, Boateng, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Marin, Kroos, Holtby, Gomez. Germany is in good form. Coach Joachim Loew will also be handicapped as some important players are out. Veteran striker Miroslav Klose and defender Holger Badstuber are out due to injuries. Some other players are also out – Mesut Oezil, Philipp Lahm and Thomas Mueller. Still, I think Germany have many quality players and coach Loew can find adequate replacements.
Game without many goals
I don`t expect many goals here. The main reason is that both teams will be handicapped. For Sweden out of the team is the best striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He is in good form, he decide the Milan derby, but coach Hamren decide to rest him after some very hard matches for Milan. Because of that I think Sweden attack won`t be so dangerous like with him. On other side Germany will also play without some very important players. I expect a tactical battle between two coaches. In that situation, Under 2.5 goals is the best choice.
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Prediction:
Tip: Under 2.5
Odd: 1.97
Bookie: 12Bet
After a huge success at the World Cup where they took the 3rd place, Germany started the new qualifiers in great fashion even though their play didn’t maybe seem too convincing in the opening match of the new campaign where the Belgians had a lot of chances for a triumph, and eventually Germany handled the situation better and won by 1:0. But in their home opener, they crushed Azerbaijan by 6:1 at home, even though they struggled quite a bit in the first half. For this clash they’ll have to play without their creator Schweinsteiger, but Ozil, who’s actually from a Turkish descent, will be very motivated. Instead of Schweinsteiger everybody expects Kroos to be in the starting lineup and there were lots of debates around the German public how important this absence will be for their team. I believe it will matter a lot but also I do believe that Low’s side is full of quality and will manage to find their well-known passing game even without him in the squad.
Injuries and ambitions
Turkey has started these qualifiers quite well and led by Guus Hiddink, they’re gonna want to reach the EURO at any cost. They also have 2 wins so they’re sharing the first place with the Germans, with a bit worse goal difference. They convincingly beat Kazakhstan on the road, while at home they defeated Belgium by 3:2 after a great turnaround. In this clash they’ll be quite weakened due to the absence of his key player in the midfield Arda Turan, who’s injured, while beside him another midfielder is out – Sahin. They do of course have a few excellent players on their squad like Nihat, Semih, Tuncay, Emre, Aurelio… but it’s gonna be really hard to confront this kind of a squad on the road so Hiddink will have a very tough task ahead of him.
German discipline above all
Discipline against wild play, I go for the discipline. Germany is one terrific squad even though their players might not be in the best form at the moment. Same situation with Turkey, they do have quality but half of their squad is out of shape pretty-much and even though there will be a lot of Turkish fans at this match in Berlin, I still don’t see how they will even escape with a point here. Their defense and goalie have always been their weakest link and I think it will be the same this time and as always, they’ll play risky and open footie, which will cost them a lot against strong Germany. Home win without a doubt, possibly by 2 or more. Good luck!
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Prediction:
Tip: 1 AH (-1)
Odd: 2.12
Bookie: 188bet
Belgium will start its qualifying campaign against the toughest group opponent, Germany. They have a young squad and a lot of individual quality in their squad but, for some reasons, they fail to play together as a team. The last friendly lost against Finland (0-1) in August says it all. They had a disappointing WC campaign and George Leekens was brought as a coach. He re called veteran Timmy Simons to the squad after one year of absence.
The Panzers
Germany made a very nice figure at the WC and ended with the bronze medal. Their game is totally improved from the classic German football machine, with young players like Ozil, Muller or Schweinsteiger who are adding a lot of creativity in the midfield. Central defender Friedrich is injured but he will probably be replaced by Westermann, while Boateng will miss and Badsturber will replace him. They’ve drew against Denmark in August (2-2) after being 2 goals up, after some terrible defensive mistakes.
Goals
For me this game has a clear favorite for the 3 points and this is Germany. But, watching their game against Denmark and seeing so many defensive holes makes me believe they could concede at least one goal against Belgium. Afterall, an offensive line up with Fellaini, Hazard, Dembele and Lukaku could create problems to any defense. (At least on paper). The odds for the away win are low but considering both teams’ attacking potential and defensive issues altogether I find a bet on over 2,5 goals very tempting. Good luck!
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Prediction:
Tip: Over 2.5
Odd: 1.80
Bookie: Expekt
Although they lost to Argentina by only 2 last night, during the first half they were a much better rival and put up a powerful display. Maric failed to deliver yesterday unlike the day one when he scored over 20 points and together with excellent Anderson in the paint, I don’t see how they can be guarded for all 40 minutes. When I add to that that Eangles was in a great mood last night (9pts) and especially Mills (15pts), adding Nielsen who is ought to play better as well as Alex, it’s really hard to imagine this team will lose tonight.
Persistent Germans
The Germans have displayed two very solid performances, playing very tough and organized but I have to emphasize that they score many points without even knowing how they did it, and I have the impression they will hardly repeat that today. To make the long story short, last night their key players played almost 40 mins each: Jagla 39, Green 34, Hamann 32 and Shafarchik 31, and they don’t really have such depth so I don’t expect them to be fresh and ready for this clash.
Kangaroos to snatch the win thru their centers
Perović last night demolished the Germans from the paint and they seem to have a very hard time defending that position, and Australia has even a bigger advantage compared to Serbia. Last night, the Aussies were defeated to a decent Argentina side only by 2 points, even though they were a lot better rival during the first half, putting up a great display so the handicap really looks too low as I feel the Aussies are a much better rival, as the Germans have already scored too many lucky points against Serbia, which is in a much worse condition without their two key players (Krstic, Teodosic)… I suggest you an easy win for Kangaroos, maybe by double digits. Good luck!
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Prediction:
Tip: 1
Odd: 1.85
Bookie: Bwin
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