World Cup 2010: England v Germany – round of 16

International Football Tips

 

World Cup 2010
England (FIFA Rank 6th) v Germany (FIFA Rank 8th) – Round of 16
Sunday 27th June 2010 – 1600hrs
Two old foes meet again in a World Cup match as England take on Germany in the knock-out phase of the tournament on Sunday afternoon.
England, fortunate to qualify from a group where they were expected to win the table with ease, struggled to get past Slovenia in their final match but did just enough with a nervous 1-0 win over relative minnows by comparison.
Germany too, have recorded indifferent results in their passage through the group phase, but they do have the edge over England when it comes to the big tournaments – albeit via penalty shoot-outs!
Looking at both teams results in their respective groups;  England drew 1-1 with USA thanks to a keeping howler by Robert Green, which was bad enough. They then followed this poor performance with an abject one against Algeria, drawing again this time 0-0. It was probably the worst performance I have ever seen by an England team full of supposed Premiership stars. Only the introduction of Jermain Defoe saved England’s blushes as he secured a narrow 1-0 win over Slovenia to book their place in the last 16.
Germany began their group matches with a resounding 4-0 thrashing of naive Australia, then were a tad unlucky to lose 0-1 against Serbia, but bounced back with a difficult win over Ghana 1-0. These results suggest the Germans are more likely to score than England and certainly create more chances; but then you’d look at both defences and both teams have only conceded one in their three matches (and England’s was due to a goalkeeping error).
England welcome back Carragher from suspension, and Capello will need to decide to stick with Upson or revert to the more familiar Carragher – if his goalkeeping decisions are anything to go by I think he’ll choose Carragher (better the devil you know). David James looks set to remain in goal (why, why, why???), but I think we all know that Capello is conservative in his team selections by now. Will Defoe start up front with an indifferent Rooney? He has been declared fit despite an ankle concern.
The Germans are anxiously waiting on the fitness of their two engine-rooms in midfield; Mezut Osil and Bastian Shweinsteiger are both injury doubts, but I get the feeling they will both play even if not 100% fit in this all-important fixture. In attack, Miroslav Klose is expected to return following a one-match suspension for a red card.
There’s not much to choose between the two sides and as such, I fancy a draw at full-time (with a view to England losing on penalties – sorry)!
Pick: Draw @ 3.15 with Pinnacle Sports
For the more conservative punter: Take Under 2.5 @ 1.55 with Expekt