Germany v Northern Ireland: Back wobbly hosts to concede | OneFootball

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Can Northern Ireland cause a massive upset against Germany?

Germany are reeling after a disastrous World Cup qualifying defeat in Slovakia, and Kevin Hatchard believes Northern Ireland can give them a scare in Cologne.

Germany v Northern IrelandSunday 07 September, 19:45

Germany have made the worst possible start to the World Cup qualifiers, going down 2-0 in Slovakia, their first ever away defeat in a World Cup qualifier and only the fourth World Cup qualifying loss in their history. Manager Julian Nagelsmann was furious after the defeat, citing a lack of leadership and suggesting that in future he might have to select players based on their fighting spirit rather than their technical quality.

Nagelsmann is under more pressure than he has ever been since taking the role of Bundestrainer. He delivered a creditable quarter-final finish at the European Championship on home soil and got through to the semi-finals of the recent Nations League, only to lose to both Portugal in the semi and France in the playoff. Now he's staring down the barrel of an unprecedented fourth straight defeat as Germany boss.

Conversely, Northern Ireland are in decent shape after opening the campaign with a 3-1 win at Luxembourg. That means Michael O'Neill's men have now scored in their last eight matches, including in away games at Sweden (5-1 defeat) and Denmark (2-1 loss).

Northern Ireland have the hand of history pushing against them as they travel to Cologne. They have lost their last nine meetings with Germany, and the last time they avoided defeat against them was all the way back in 1996.

O'Neill could name an unchanged line-up from the win at Luxembourg, while Nagelsmann is expected to shuffle his pack. It's thought Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry, Nnamdi Collins, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Angelo Stiller could all be dropped, as Nagelsmann looks for a big reaction.

I fancy Both Teams To Score here at a chunky 2.6 on the Exchange. Germany have conceded 12 goals across their last six matches, and the likes of Jonathan Tah and Antonio Rüdiger aren't in great form at centre-back. Joshua Kimmich is struggling to fill in the gaps in midfield, and there are issues at full-back too. Given Northern Ireland's recent goalscoring form, I'll back them to at least score here.

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