The Germans will want to assure themselves of a place in the knock-out stages as soon as possible (and depending on the result of the other game even first place) but the Serbs will be playing their final hand.


Germany vs Serbia

 The Germans walked all over Australia, who were a disjointed team all over the place. Even the German players who had a disappointing season at club level performed very well. A winning side, particularly one that wins 4-0, should be changed so I am not expecting the coach to tinker with the line-up. However, they will face a much sterner test today given Serbia are much better opposition. Podolski looked in good form, while Turkish origin Ozil was sensational and it won’t be long before he becomes a target for a huge transfer to some major club. Muller also played quite well as he has done for his club Bayern. Defensively they were never really tested and if they have a weakness it is at the back. Unlike the Australians, Serbia has good forwards and with Germany’s only world class defender being Lahm, who will be marking Krasic, I expect Tosic on the other flank to run riot.

 The Serbs tried in their opening game but they were reduced to ten men and ended up losing 0-1 to a penalty they gave away towards the end of the match. It may not have been a fair result for them but it forces them to head into today’s game needing to win given it is assumed that Ghana will win their next game against the Australians. They will field an attacking line-up with red carded Lukovic being replaced by Subotic. It is a risk for them given their weakness in the goalkeeping position but Stojkovic did have a first good game. Up front Zigic and Pantelic didn’t live up to expectation and the tall Zigic may be discarded today. Their strengths lie in their wide midfielders, as Krasic and Tosic create chances. Tosic plays in Germany on loan from Manchester United and knows his opponents well. And I would expect the pillar in defence Vidic to restrict Klose.

Probable Line-ups:

Germany (4-2-3-1): Neuer, Lahm, Mertesacker, Friedrich, Badstuber; Schweinsteiger, Khedira; Mueller, Ozil, Podolski; Klose

Serbia (4-4-2): Stojkovic, Ivanovic, Vidic, Subotic, Kolarov; Krasic, Stankovic, Kuzmanovic, Jovanovic; Zigic, Lazovic

Selection: The Germans will be up against a decent football team today. Much may have been said about their dominance in the first game but the truth is that they were up against very weak opposition. I would expect the Serbians to go all out for victory but they keep having problems inside the team, between the players and the manager, so I am not going to choose a winner here. What i am going to bet on is that the Serbians will receive MORE YELLOW CARDS than Germany, +3 yellow cards at least. If you want to place another bet as well, bet on the UNDER 2.5 goals.