Northern Ireland v Germany

SCOUTING REPORT Andy Greeves takes a closer look at Germany’s new-look squad ahead of this evening’s UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier.

Low will be missing one key winger for this evening’s match, however, with Manchester City’s Leroy Sane having sustained an ACL injury in the FA Community Shield back in August. STRENGTHS Depending on their chosen formation, Germany effectively play with three or four attackers when in possession of the ball. Low gives players such as Marco Reus the freedom to operate anywhere in the final third, meaning one minute he could occupy the ‘number ten’ position while the next he could be on the wing or up front, making him extremely difficult to mark. Germany’s full-backs typically join in with attacks, adding to the threat the team poses going forward. Left-back Nico Schulz, for example, completed an average of two key passes in the two UEFA Nations League matches he featured in for Die Mannschaft in 2018. At the age of 33 captain Manuel Neuer remains one of the best goalkeepers in world football. As a superb reader of the game, with immense ability with the ball at his feet, he has been described as a ‘sweeper keeper’ throughout his career.

LOWDOWN Prior to their match with old rivals the Netherlands in Hamburg on Friday, Germany were second to Northern Ireland in UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Group C, having won all three of their opening matches of the campaign away to Holland and Belarus and at home to Estonia. On the back of a disappointing display at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which saw Die Mannschaft eliminated at the group stage of the tournament, Joachim Low’s team are currently ranked 15th in the FIFA World Rankings. Since the reunification of Germany in 1990 the country has topped the listings on six separate occasions for a total of 37 months. TACTICS Germany play a dynamic brand of passing football and will almost always look to play the ball out from the back. Die Mannschaft regularly operate in a 4-3-3 formation, although there is the possibility that Joachim Low will select a 4-2-3-1 system for this evening’s match. When selected Toni Kroos is responsible for the majority of their set-pieces. Many of Germany’s attacking moves are manufactured in wide areas, with the likes of Julian Brandt, Kai Havertz and Marco Reus expert operators on the wings.

Many thanks to journalist Fabian Zerche (www.spox.com/at) for his assistance in the writing of this article. POSSIBLE LINE-UP GK Manuel Neuer RB Matthias Ginter CB Niklas Süle CB Jonathan Tah LB Nico Schulz DM Ilkay Gundogan DM Toni Kroos AMR Julian Brandt AMC Serge Gnabry AML Marco Reus FW Luca Waldschmidt