Germany travel to their old foe, the Netherlands, on Tuesday evening to see if they can take control of their Nations League group. Both sides are coming off the back of thumping victories where both nations scored five goals. It will be a shock if either side can score as many as they did against Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina respectively, but it should make for an interesting spectacle.
Germany
Die Mannschaft are in the dawn of a new era, following the retirement of Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Ilkay Gündogan and Toni Kroos after EURO 2024. They’ve begun in superb style and will face their first real test post EURO 2024 against a Dutch side who got to the semi-final of the tournament this summer.
Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, and Kai Havertz all played their part in a dynamic midfield trio to support lone striker Niclas Füllkrug who just loves a goal for his country. The win over Hungary also saw Pascal Groß cement his position in defensive midfield alongside Bayer Leverkusen’s Robert Andrich.
Füllkrug summed up his mood following last weekend’s win: “We were able to carry the excitement from the EUROs with us and are pleased to have made the fans happy by getting the win. It is really fun playing there upfront with Musiala and Wirtz. Germany will have a lot of fun with them in the future as well. We were able to create a lot of space in behind and make runs in behind meaning that we were able to build a good, varied approach in attack.”
The Netherlands
New Manchester United player, Joshua Zirkzee, got his first international against Bosnia in their opening game and may be in contention to start up top again with back-up from Xavi Simons, Cody Gakpo, and Tijjani Reijnders. However, head coach Ronald Koeman may opted for the more experienced Wout Weghorst or Brain Brobbey.
The Netherlands will be looking to exploit a German side which on paper may not be as experienced than themselves when it comes to international football. Playing in Amsterdam, expect the Dutch to try and control the tempo of the game with the key battles being fought in the middle of the park.
Possible Starting XI:
Netherlands
Verbruggen – Dumfries, De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ake – Schouten, Gravenberch, Reijnders – Simons, Gakpo – Zirkzee.
Germany
Ter Stegen; Kimmich, Schlotterbeck, Tah, Mittelstadt – Andrich, Groß – Musiala, Havertz, Wirtz – Fullkrug.
GGFN | Jamie Allen
