England U21 vs Germany U21 prediction: EUROPE: Euro U21 betting tips on match 2023-06-27 16:00.
It has been a perfect start to the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championships for Lee Carsley’s England side as they swept aside the Czech Republic and Israel by 2-0 scorelines. Consequently, the Young Lions sit atop Group C and cruised into the knockout phase with a game to spare, meaning they have already bettered their 2021 group stage exit ahead of this final group clash in Batumi.
England reached the semi-final stage in the last edition that they managed to escape their group, yet they’ll be hoping to keep up momentum as they look to better that 2017 exit by lifting the trophy for the first time since 1984. In that 2017 campaign, it was in fact Germany who denied England a crack at the final in a penalty shootout reminiscent of the senior side’s 1990 World Cup and Euro 1996 heartache.
A draw after 90 minutes won’t be enough to save Germany this time around after failing to win their opening two group games (D1, L1). With just two wins across their last eight games (W2, D3, L3), Germany know they must improve on that with a victory whilst hoping Israel defeat Czech Republic, and even then it would come down to goal difference.
There’s certainly no lack of quality amongst the young Germans after reaching the final in each of the previous three editions, whilst winning three of the last six tournaments. Even so, confidence may have been rocked after Jessic Ngankam and Youssoufa Moukoko received a barrage of abhorrent online racist abuse after their respective penalty misses at this tournament, with the latter frankly stating “If we win we are all Germans. If we lose, then these comments arrive”.
Players to watch: Nottingham Forest’s player of the season and England starlet Morgan Gibbs-White built upon his eight Premier League assists in the 2022/23 season by setting up both goals in England’s latest victory. However, he was on the losing side the last time he faced Brentford and German U21 forward Kevin Schade, with the forward posted a solid 7.0 Flashscore rating when his club ran out 2-1 winners over Forest in the English top-flight.
Hot stat: Just one of Germany’s last six regular 90-minute internationals was goalless at half-time.