Two sides looking to secure their first victory of the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League at the second attempt will meet on Sunday as Switzerland face off against Germany at St. Jakob-Park in Group A4.
Switzerland kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Ukraine, while Germany suffered last-minute heartbreak against Spain as they were forced to settle for a draw on Thursday evening.
Match preview
© Reuters
Switzerland got off to the worst possible start in the 2020-21 Nations League as they suffered a narrow defeat to Ukraine in a fixture which provided a trio of memorable goals.
Andriy Yarmolenko's backheel gave the hosts the lead after just 14 minutes before Haris Seferovic lashed in the equaliser for Switzerland just before half time, but it would be another Premier League Ukrainian who would decide the game as Oleksandr Zinchenko's delightful curler condemned Switzerland to defeat.
Vladimir Petkovic's men would have no doubt felt that a clash with Ukraine possibly represents their most winnable game of the group stage, but there is still plenty of time for Switzerland to turn their fortunes around despite the calibre of their opponents.
Petkovic's side were just pipped to third place in the 2018-19 edition as they lost to England in a penalty shootout, although it would take something quite spectacular for Switzerland to top the group and advance to the finals this time around.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Germany looked on course to take all three points in their clash with Spain, but Joachim Low's men were undone by a Jose Gaya equaliser five minutes into injury time after Chelsea's Timo Werner had opened the scoring.
The stalemate means that Germany are still searching for their maiden victory in the Nations League having drawn two and lost two of their fixtures in the 2018-19 edition.
Despite a lack of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig players following their European exploits earlier in the summer, a team of Die Mannschaft's quality will no doubt be setting their sights on a finals run, and recording their first three points against Switzerland this weekend will therefore be of paramount importance to Low.
Switzerland and Germany have not locked horns since a 2012 friendly, where Die Mannschaft ultimately ended up on the wrong side of an eight-goal scoreline as Switzerland recorded a thrilling 5-3 victory.
Incredibly, Sunday's meeting will represent the first competitive clash between the two sides since the 1966 World Cup, where a Franz Beckenbauer double inspired West Germany to a 5-0 triumph in the group stage.
Switzerland Nations League form: L
Switzerland form (all competitions): WLWWWL
Germany Nations League form: D
Germany form (all competitions): WDWWWD
Team News
© Reuters
Celtic new boy Albian Ajeti came off the bench for the final 20 minutes of Switzerland's defeat to Ukraine, but should Petkovic opt for a one-man strikeforce once again, it is difficult to see Seferovic dropping out of the side.
However, given the quick turnaround in fixtures to contend and the strength of their opponents, Petkovic must strike the right balance between freshening the team up and avoiding disrupting the harmony.
Renato Steffen and Michel Aebischer are two players who will be holding out for starts having been substituted in on Thursday.
As far as Germany are concerned, Die Mannschaft have confirmed that Kai Havertz has left the team camp with a move to Chelsea now confirmed.
Low may decide to revert to a back four with a victory in their sights this weekend, which could see Julian Brandt come back into the fold on the left-hand side.
Matthias Ginter is also in contention to start in the heart of the Germany defence, but Emre Can impressed in the draw against Spain and will look to keep his place here.
Low has also confirmed that Bernd Leno will replace Kevin Trapp in goal.
Switzerland possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Mbabu, Xhaka, Aebischer, Benito; Embolo, Seferovic, Vargas
Germany possible starting lineup:
Leno; Kehrer, Ginter, Sule, Gosens; Kroos, Neuhaus; Sane, Draxler, Brandt; Werner
We say: Switzerland 1-2 Germany
Both teams are undoubtedly far from their best having just made the return to international football, but Germany were incredibly unlucky not to take all three points against Spain in midweek. Had it not been for a star-studded performance from David de Gea, Low's men could have easily scored quite a few more on the night, so we are backing Die Mannschaft to scrape a narrow victory and kickstart their Nations League campaign this Sunday.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Away Win:-
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Switzerland win with a probability of 41.67%. A win for Germany had a probability of 32.97% and a draw had a probability of 25.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Switzerland win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.33%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.85%) and 2-0 (6.89%). The likeliest Germany win was 0-1 (8.12%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.99%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 12% likelihood.
Portugal
Croatia
Scotland
Poland
France
Italy
Belgium
Israel
Germany
Netherlands
Hungary
Bosnia H'vina
Spain
Denmark
Serbia
Switzerland
Czech Republic
Ukraine
Georgia
Albania
England
Greece
Rep. Ireland
Finland
Norway
Austria
Slovenia
Kazakhstan
Wales
Turkey
Iceland
Montenegro
Sweden
Slovakia
Estonia
Azerbaijan
Romania
Kosovo
Cyprus
Lithuania
N. Ireland
Bulgaria
Belarus
Luxembourg
N. Macedonia
Armenia
Faroe Islands
Latvia
San Marino
Gibraltar
Liechtenstein
Moldova
Malta
Andorra
