Scotland v Germany
Monday 7th September – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Football – International Football – European Championships
History repeated itself on Friday as a hopeful – if not expectant – Scotland side floundered in the Georgian heat. Gordon Strachan’s men were hoping to avoid falling at the same hurdle that Alec McLeish’s Scotland team faltered at in 2007, but it was an altogether familiar feeling of disappointment for the Tartan Army. The Scots looked lethargic and never got anything going in an attacking sense whatsoever, failing to register a shot on target in the whole game. Strachan felt his side did not do enough to win the game but believed they did not deserve to lose the game, either. I would have to disagree with the Scotland manager as the team looked one dimensional and never had the urgency that is required to win tight games, which this was always going to be. The result leaves them clutching on to dwindling hope of finishing third as the Republic of Ireland’s win over Gibraltar has pushed them into pole position with three games left to play.
14 months on from winning the World Cup in Brazil, Germany are beginning to come out the other side of what appeared to be a transitional period. It was only to be expected considering the likes of Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker and Miroslav Klose (all of home were stalwarts of the last decade for this team) retired following their success. The signs were there during Friday’s win over Poland that they are getting back to a formidable level which will serve as not only a warning to the rest of their group opponents, but the rest of the Europe ahead of the finals next summer. The 3-1 victory over the Pole’s moved Germany to the top of Group D and they can guarantee their passage to France by taking four points from their last three matches, meaning a win in Glasgow would all but seal their place for next summer’s showpiece.
Strachan has hinted that there will be some changes ahead of the match with the current world champions. Much of the talk heading into Friday’s match with Georgia centred around who would lead the line. Sunderland’s Steven Fletcher was given the nod ahead of Leigh Griffiths but that could well be different on Monday. Fletcher has never been the most prolific of strikers but he passed up a guilt-edged chance in the first half and looked short of some match practice. That certainly will not be the case of Griffiths who has been in excellent form for his club Celtic. Having stuck rigidly to a core group throughout these qualifiers, it will be interesting to see who else makes way to freshen things up as Scotland are getting close to last-chance saloon and whoever the axed falls on will inadvertently take the blame for the defeat to Georgia.
Joachim Low surprised many with his decision to play Mario Gotze as a central striker on Friday. Thomas Muller is usually entrusted with that role but he reverted to a wider position and it paid dividends as the two Bayern Munich stars were responsible for all three of their nations goals. Whether or not Low sticks with the same personnel in the same positions remains to be seen but such is the quality Germany possess, it will not be a huge difference however they line up. Another key aspect of Germany’s performance was left-back Jonas Hector. Desire their success, it has been a troublesome position since Lahm was position elsewhere but Hector’s display was very promising and provided them with an another dimension to their attacking threat – as though it was not dangerous enough.
Automatic qualification looks about gone now for Strachan and his men but the Scotland manager will refuse to thrown in the towel just yet, as you would expect. Realistically, however, third place should be their aim and with a point between themselves and Ireland it will likely come down to their matches against Germany and Poland. Scotland face both of those nations at home whilst Ireland have to travel to Poland in the final game of qualification. All things considered, a point in Monday evening’s fixture would be seen as a favourable result in the battle for third.
Germany may well be quite a bit from their peak but unfortunately for Scotland, even if they are not on full throttle they are still a fearsome opponent. A defeat to Poland and a draw at home to Ireland at the beginning of qualifying came at a time when they were trying to fill key positions and build the partnerships required to get back to a level where they have been for the last few years. The performance against Poland was an indication that they are getting close to that and I fancy them to continue building on their recent improvement with another commanding performance at Hampden.
Scotland v Germany Betting Tips
I expect the home team to put up a spirited performance and come out playing at a high tempo as they bid to put the disappointment of Friday behind them. Strachan’s tactics came under fire after that defeat so it would be folly to expect them to sit in and try to contain Germany, particularly under the circumstances.
The Germans have so many options going forward despite the absence of Marco Reus. Muller, Gotze and Mesut Ozil toyed with the Polish defence at times and I envisage it being a similar story against a Scottish back line who have ridden their luck at times in this group. As Germany are not known to be merciful, there is a bit of me (being Scottish) that is fearing the worst. An early goal for the visitors and it could be a very long night. The win is the most important thing for Germany, however, so by taking them minus a goal on the Asian Handicap it gives us the insurance of getting our stake back with a one-goal margin of victory and any other away win would see the bet a winner.
Germany -1(AH) 7/10 @ Betvictor
