Germany come up against Sweden on Saturday night in a crunch game for Die Mannschaft. Joachim Low’s side suffered a shock defeat to Mexico in their first match last Sunday, showing that they might not be the side that everyone thought they might be ahead of the tournament.
Germany looked slow and ponderous against Mexico, often being caught out on the break and committing too many players up the pitch. A good finish from Hirving Lozano, beating Manuel Neuer on his right was enough to cause one of the biggest shocks of the tournament so far. Failure to beat Sweden on Saturday would see the unthinkable happen and defending champions Germany could be eliminated at the group stage for the first time since 1978.
Sweden overcame South Korea in their opening game, relying on a penalty awarded by VAR, scored by captain Andreas Granqvist. Aside from that, there wasn’t much else to talk about from their opener, as both teams played out a scrappy game, displaying nerves and rustiness as they played their first game in Russia. However, victory for Sweden put them on top of Group F, with victory for both them and Mexico in their second game eliminating Germany from the competition.
Germany vs. Sweden Predictions
This won’t be an easy game for Germany as they’re coming up against a well-organised Swedish side who are difficult to break down. This is a must-win for them and with so much pressure back home on them to do well, it might be too much for them. They should win though, but there have been lots of shocks in the tournament so far.
Germany vs. Sweden Betting Tips
- Germany to win: 5/13
- Draw: 7/2
- Sweden to win: 7/1
- Over 3.5 total goals: 21/10
- A penalty to be awarded: 2/1
Head to Head
- Germany are unbeaten in their last 11 games against Sweden (W6 D5), with the Scandinavians’ last win coming 40 years ago in April 1978 (3-1).
- The two most recent matches between these sides have produced a total of 16 goals, with a 4-4 draw in Germany in October 2012 before Sweden lost 5-3 at home in qualifying for the 2014 W. Cup.
- Germany have won three of their four W. Cup games against Sweden (in 1934, 1974 and 2006), with their only defeat coming in 1958 when Sweden, as host nation, reached the final.
- Sweden’s only previous competitive win against Germany came in the 1958 W. Cup (D3 L8), with their other 11 victories against them coming in friendlies.
- Germany lost their opening match against Mexico, only the second time they’d lost their opener at a W. Cup, also losing against Algeria in 1982. However, they reached the final of the competition that year.
- Sweden have faced the reigning W. Cup champions at the tournament twice before and won both times. In 1950 against Italy and 1958 against Germany.
- Germany have not lost back-to-back matches in the same W. Cup finals since 1958, when they lost to Sweden in the semi-final and France in the third-place match.
- Sweden’s 1-0 win against South Korea was their first win in their opening match at a World Cup since beating Mexico 3-0 as hosts in 1958. They also last won consecutive W. Cup matches back in the 1958 edition on route to the final.
- Sweden’s goal against South Korea was the first they’d scored in 402 minutes of international football, since Ola Toivonen scored against Chile back in March.
- Germany’s Thomas Muller has scored 10 goals from just 14 shots on target at the W. Cup. However, Muller was the only outfield German player to not register a single shot in their defeat to Mexico and he hasn’t had a shot in his last 239 minutes of W. Cup football.
Germany Squad
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Paris Saint Germain), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich) , Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Paris Saint Germain), Leon Goretzka (Schalke), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Sebastian Rudy (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund, Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
Sweden Squad
Robin Olsen (FC Copenhagen), Karl-Johan Johnsson (Guingamp), Kristoffer Nordfelft (Swansea), Mikael Lustig (Celtic), Victor Lindelof (Manchester United), Andreas Granqvist (Krasnodar), Martin Olsson (Swansea), Ludwig Augustinsson (Werder Bremen), Filip Helander (Bologna), Emil Krafth (Bologna), Pontus Jansson (Leeds), Sebastian Larsson (Hull), Albin Ekdal (Hamburg), Emil Forsberg (RB Leipzig), Gustav Svensson (Seattle Sounders), Oscar Hiljemark (Genoa), Viktor Claesson (Krasnodar), Marcus Rohden (FC Crotone), Jimmy Durmaz (Toulouse), Marcus Berg (Al Ain), John Guidetti (Alaves), Ola Toivonen (Toulouse), Isaac Kiese Thelin (Waasland-Beveren)