Germany host the Czech Republic on Wednesday evening in an international friendly between the two bordering nations.
The two sides last met in 2017 in a World Cup qualifying match, with the hosts running out 2-1 winners.
The Germans have not lost a friendly fixture since June 2018 when they were edged 2-1 by Austria, and they will be looking to continue that unbeaten run ahead of a final push in the UEFA Nations League with Spain currently leading Group A4 by a single point.
Team News:
GERMANY:
Joachim Low’s reliable contingent of Manuel Neuer, Matthias Ginter, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan, Leroy Sane and Timo Werner will be rested ahead of their Nations League ties against Ukraine and Spain.
Joshua Kimmich will be out of action until January after suffering a meniscus damage against Borussia Dortmund at the weekend.
The German coach will be using this friendly as an opportunity to integrate fresh blood into his squad, with uncapped players such as Oliver Baumann, Philipp Max, Felix Uduokhai and Bote Baku named in the squad.
The likes of Robin Gosens, Florian Neuhaus, Jonas Hofmann and Luca Waldschmidt will be given opportunities to impress.
Embed from Getty ImagesCZECH REPUBLIC:
Czech manager Jaroslav Silhavy will be eager to put up a more competitive side against the Germans than the one he was forced to deploy in their 1-0 defeat to Scotland last month due to positive coronavirus tests.
Silhavy will likely be missing Jan Boril, Ondrej Kudela, Lukas Provod, Filip Nguyen and Michael Rabusic due to the virus. Key figures, Adam Hlozek, Ondrej Celustka and Patrik Schick are all ruled out through injury.
Silhavy will be leaning heavily on his more experienced players such as West Ham duo Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal to impress with Nations League fixtures against Israel and Slovakia forthcoming.
Embed from Getty ImagesMatch Stats:
- Germany lead their opponents 16-6 in all their head-to-head battles, with three draws rounding out their 25 fixtures to date.
- The Czechs last tasted victory against Germany in October 2007.
- Germany are 14th in the most recent FIFA World Ranking, 31 places above the Czech Republic.
Possible Line-Ups:
GERMANY: Leno, Henrichs, Koch, Rudiger, Gosens; Neuhaus, Dahoud; Brandt, Amiri, Hoffman; Luca Waldschmidt
CZECH REPUBLIC: Vaclik; Coufal, Hubnik, Celustka, Zeleny; Soucek, Dockal; Malinsky, Darida, Vydra; Krmencik
Score Prediction: Germany 3-1 Czech Republic
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