England v Germany predictions: Struggling hosts may be frustrated by old rivals

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for England v Germany in the Nations League on Monday.

Where to watch

Channel 4, 7.45pm Monday

Best bets

Draw
2pts 23-10 bet365, Betfred, BoyleSports

Jamal Musiala to be first goalscorer
1pt each-way 16-1 bet365

Team news

England
Jack Grealish is suspended. Aaron Ramsdale, Mason Mount, Kieran Trippier and Ben Chilwell are pushing for starts and Ivan Toney, left out of the squad against Italy, is hoping for an England debut.

Germany
Centre-back Antonio Rudiger is suspended. Manuel Neuer, Leon Goretzka and Julian Brandt pulled out of the squad before the Hungary defeat due to illness.

Match preview

Alf Ramsey's 'Wingless Wonders' landed England's only World Cup in 1966 and, 56 years later, hopes of a second title may rest on the shoulders of Gareth Southgate's winless wonders.

England host Germany in their final match before the World Cup kicks off in Qatar and Friday's 1-0 defeat in Italy sealed their relegation to the second tier of the Nations League.

The Three Lions have taken just two points from five games in Group A3 and, more worryingly for Southgate, their only goal in the group was an 88th-minute Harry Kane penalty which salvaged a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture against Germany.

End-of-season fatigue may have been a factor in England's toothless Nations League displays in June, culminating in a shock 4-0 home defeat to 12-1 underdogs Hungary at Molineux.

However, their subdued attacking performance against Italy was harder to excuse and the winless streak means Southgate's decisions – such as omitting in-form Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho and playing Bukayo Saka, so effective as a right-sided attacker for Arsenal, at left wing-back – are being scrutinised by his critics.

The manager insisted there were positives to take from the performance in Milan and ordinarily a Nations League dead rubber – even one against traditional rivals Germany – would be a chance to experiment.

But England's players will want to snap their winless streak before their World Cup opener against Iran on November 21 and Southgate, cut to 2-5 by Coral to leave his job before the end of the year, could also do with a morale-boosting win.

The pragmatic manager is unlikely to panic about his side's lack of goals as their runs to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and the final of Euro 2020 were built on solid defensive efforts rather than dazzling attacking football.

One such attritional victory came against Germany in the last 16 of the Euros when England mustered only five attempts at goal and had to wait until the final 15 minutes for Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane to secure a 2-0 win at Wembley.

That was long-serving Germany coach Joachim Low's final game in charge of Die Mannschaft and his successor Hansi Flick, like Southgate, has overseen an underwhelming Nations League campaign.

Germany were also upset at home by Hungary, losing 1-0 to the 12-1 shots on Friday after a 5-2 victory over struggling Italy on matchday four.

Before that success Flick's men played out four consecutive 1-1 draws against Hungary, England, Italy and the Netherlands and the stalemate looks the best bet again.

Attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala made two appearances for England Under-21s in 2020 before opting to represent Germany. The brilliant 19-year-old has scored six goals in ten appearances for Bayern Munich this season and looks a tempting each-way price to break the deadlock in what should be a tight contest.

Key stat

England have failed to score in seven of their last ten Nations League matches.

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