Germany vs Ukraine prediction: WORLD: Friendly International betting tips on match 2023-06-11 16:00.
UEFA Euro 2024 is still 12 months away from kicking off, but hosts Germany (FIFA Rank: #14) need to start producing results to rebuild their confidence after a second straight FIFA World Cup group stage exit in Qatar. And with an unusually-long Bundesliga season now over, the first summer international paves the way for new blood, giving rise to hopes of a fresh-faced hero emerging in a squad aiming to recapture its former global might.
Germany’s next stop is Werder Bremen’s Weserstadion, which will host its first international since February 2012, when the four-time world champions fell to a 2-1 friendly defeat against France. They left it late to pull one back on that occasion, leaving insufficient time to fight back, and their last outing was similar in that respect, with Hansi Flick’s men ending the March 2023 international break by losing 3-2 to FIFA’s #4-ranked side Belgium in Cologne.
That result made the Germans winless in four clashes against European opposition (D2, L2), conceding inside the opening 20 minutes in both losses. However, better luck is expected against a Ukraine side currently 16 places worse off in FIFA’s rankings – one still leading a nomadic existence amidst wartime conditions, which only exacerbates an existing ten-game winless run (90 mins only) against teams with a better FIFA ranking at present (D3, L7).
Ukraine’s barren run against higher ranked opposition also includes their latest loss in a winless post-Soviet H2H record against Germany (D3, L5). Back in November 2020, a 3-1 defeat at Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena notably made it a hat-trick of historic losses by a multi-goal margin for Ukraine on German soil, though they were all suffered in a competitive setting, so perhaps manager Sergiy Rebrov will be confident they can break that particular curse here.
Players to watch: As the top German scorer in Bundesliga season 2022/23, Bremen striker Niclas Füllkrug should be unstoppable on his club’s own turf, especially after netting in each of Germany’s previous four games. An unknown quantity might be the key to upstaging him, and Ukraine’s Nazariy Rusyn is surely in line for a senior international debut after netting decisively within ten minutes in his two most recent Ukrainian Premier League games.
Hot stat: One team has scored exactly twice in four of Germany’s last five matches.