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There is a battle for top spot in the group at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt with Switzerland having the potential to overthrow the Germans with a victory. Qualification is not yet 100% assured for the Swiss, though.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 23rd June, 2024 - UK – 8:00pm / US EST – 3:00pm / US PST – 1:00pm
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – BBC / US – FOX
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer / US – VIX
SWITZERLAND PREVIEW: EASING THROUGH
Switzerland came into the tournament with an ageing squad that stumbled through qualifying and reports of in-fighting between captain Granit Xhaka and manager Murat Yakin. However, the Swiss began their campaign with an impressive 3-1 defeat of Hungary, albeit a two-goal margin certainly flattered them, before a draw with the Scots.
In that clash with Scotland in Cologne on Wednesday, they fell behind early on to a deflected Scott McTominay strike but yet another screamer from Xherdan Shaqiri at a major tournament brought them back level. The Swiss are not yet through but they do head into the final match day knowing they could indeed top Group A.
GERMANY PREVIEW: KEEPING THE MOMENTUM
After an emphatic 5-1 demolition of Scotland on opening night at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany followed that up with a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Hungary the other day. Jamal Musiala opened the scoring after some good work by Ilkay Gundogan in the first-half and then Gundogan, the German skipper, notched for himself mid-way through the second 45 minutes.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side did show some vulnerabilities in that game against the Hungarians but they are easing themselves through to the Round of 16. There is a scenario developing whereby the bottom-half of the draw ‘opens up’ and that would involve Germany finishing as runners’ up in this group but that is unlikely to be too much of a distraction.
SWITZERLAND TEAM NEWS: BRINGING EMBOLO BACK
Murat Yakin has been very careful to bring Breel Embolo back after a long injury layoff throughout this season but the Monaco forward has made an excellent impact off the bench in both games so, with the Swiss basically through, his selection from the start ahead of the knockouts may finally be in the offing.
PREDICTED XI (X-X-X-X): Sommer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Freuler, Xhaka, Aebischer; Shaqiri; Vargas, Embolo
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE: Zuber (Injured)
GERMANY TEAM NEWS: POTENTIAL ROTATION
Germany are already through to the Round of 16 so potential rotation could be expected from Die Mannschaft. That said, they haven’t yet won the group so there will still need to be caution with regards to that. Leroy Sane may get a run out from the start alongside Emre Can and David Raum, whilst Marc-Andre ter Stegen may be aggrieved if he doesn’t see the pitch at all in the groups.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Ter Stegen; Kimmich, Rudiger, Tah, Raum; Can, Kroos; Sane, Gundogan, Musiala; Havertz
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
KEY STATS
SWITZERLAND VS GERMANY PREDICTION
A similar scenario to this happened for Switzerland back in 2016 when they faced hosts France in their final group game with France already through and Switzerland on four points. What developed was one of the worst games of association football in the history of the sport as it finished goalless. A similar result and performance from both sides, as it suits both and avoids the risk of injury from over exertion, would not be too surprising with the main focus on Sunday being the other game in the group between Scotland and Hungary.
SWITZERLAND VS GERMANY TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS