Match Preview: England vs Germany: International Friendly
In the first round of friendly warm-up matches for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Gareth Southgate’s England host Joachim Low’s World Champions on the night that International Football will remember the fallen.
The Three Lions head into the tie after topping Group F in Qualifying and finishing the campaign with a 0-1 victory in Lithuania, while Germany, who also topped their respective Group, thrashed Azerbaijan 5-1 on home soil last time out.
When?
The encounter is scheduled to kick-off at 8 PM GMT tonight (Friday 10 November 2017) with live free Television Coverage in The UK being provided by ITV.
If you don’t have access to a TV tonight, live Radio Commentary is being broadcasted by both BBC Radio 5 Live and TalkSport on FM, or you can stick with us right here for all of the reaction from West London.
Where?
The visit of the Germans will take place at England’s 90,000 capacity new Wembley Stadium, it has been hosting International Football for well over a century, no game more famously than the 1966 World Cup Final.
Tonight will spell the seventh time that Germany have visited West London since the fall of The Berlin Wall, relying on a first-half strike from Per Mertesacker to claim a 0-1 victory.
Originally opening in 1923, the West London site was rebuilt in the early noughties and shut for around seven years whilst the attendance was being increased.
This season, for the first time in its history, The Stadium will host Premier League fixtures as the home Ground of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur while White Hart Lane is being similarly rebuilt.
Team News:
Having called U21 stars Joe Gomez, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham into his Squad for the very first time, Southgate is expected to experiment with his starting Xl as he gives Youth a trial, but keeper Joe Hart could reach a landmark 75th cap if he starts.
Although he does have a few injury concerns, six to be precise as Spurs trio Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Harry Winks all pulled out along with Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph, while Jack Butland is out with a broken finger and Michael Keane, Jack Cork, and Jake Livermore were all brought in as replacements.
Meanwhile, Low has a few casualties of his own in his diamond-encrusted Deutschland Squad, although one positive is the possibility of former lower League star Marcel Halstenberg making his International debut.
Whereas, star keeper Manuel Neuer has been ruled out with injury and Toni Kroos will not be risked in all likelihood after falling ill with a stomach virus, whilst defend Jerome Boateng also misses out.
Form:
The National teams of England and Germany form one of Football’s most famous and notorious rivalries in all of Football that has existed since spring 1930 when the first ever meeting finished 3-3 in Nazi Berlin.
There have been 31 meetings between the two teams in history with The Three Lions coming out on top on 13 occasions, the Germans 15 times and there being just three draws.
The last two feisty playing’s of this fixture have been held in Germany, with Lowe’s men victorious to the tune of in March of this year, and England under Roy Hodgson claiming a 2-3 win back in March 2016.
Famous past encounters between The Nations include The DFB Eleven’s agonising penalties victory at Wembley in the semi-finals of EURO 1996, England’s remarkable 1-5 Berlin thrashing in 2001 and of course, England’s beating of West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final.
England:
The last 18 months have been choppy, to say the least from The Three Lions’ point of view, with the Allardyce Saga and a turbulent start to Southgate’s spell as Manager.
But things have looked to have evened themselves out now, as England have won a sixth successive Qualifying Group and in impressive style too with 26 points and eight wins out of ten.
Last time out, a solitary goal from Harry Kane was enough for an experimental Three Lions side to claim victory in Lithuania to finish Qualifying on a positive note.
However, with a disappointing FIFA rank of 13th and a diabolical recent record at World Cups, it has been over 50 years since they won their one and only Major Tournament, England fans will not be holding their breaths for Russia 2018 next summer.
Germany:
With a history steeped in Footballing success, The German National Team is widely considered to be one of the greatest in the history of the game and are currently the World’s number one ranked side in The FIFA Rankings.
They will head into Russia next June as the reigning Champions after beating Argentina in The Final in Brazil in 2014, their fourth World Cup triumph to go in The Trophy Cabinet along with three European Championships and a Confederations Cup, won earlier this year.
During their aforementioned stellar Qualification campaign, The National Eleven became only the second side in history to win all ten games and recorded 43 goals, the highest in history, rounding it off in style with goals from Leon Goretzka, Antonio Rudiger, Sandro Wagner and Emre Can.
Under the decorated Lowe, the Germans have not been beaten competitively October 2014 and have produced such World Football Legends such as Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller, Oliver Khan and Miroslav Klose to name but a few.
Who Is Officiating?
Experienced FIFA Confederation Referee Paweł Raczkowski will take charge, his Assistants will be Michal Obukowicz and Radoslaw Siejka, with Daniel Stefanski completing the Polish Officials Team at Fourth Official, for the first time in an England game, a Video Assistant Referee will be used.
So, now that the Wembley scene has been well and truly set for a historical International friendly, can an injury warped Three Lions side get one over their old rivals on home soil?
Or, will the travelling Germans maintain their incredible record and continue their World Football dominance? All will be revealed in a matter of mere hours in West London.