Our World Cup coverage moves onto Group G now as we turn our attentions to Germany. Joachim Low’s side kick off their campaign with a very testing clash against Portugal on Monday June 16 at 5pm before facing a couple of opponents that will surely earn them significant Fantasy investment – a clash with Ghana five days later at 5pm precedes their final group game against USA on Thursday June 26 at 5pm:
Road to Qualification
Germany coasted to qualification by topping a group that also included Sweden, Austria, Republic of Ireland, Kazakhstan and Faroe Islands. Winning nine and drawing one of their 10 fixtures, Low’s side caught the eye going forward and scored 36 times – netting at least three times on nine occasions – but failed to impress defensively. Ten goals conceded and a mere four clean sheets doesn’t instil much confidence, with Sweden, in particular, proving difficult opponents, scoring four and three times over their head-to-heads.
Most Appearances Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller (10), Philipp Lahm (9), Per Mertesacker, Sami Khedira (8), Jerome Boateng (7), Marco Reus, Miroslav Klose, Marcel Schmelzer, Toni Kroos (6)
Most Goals Mesut Ozil (8), Marco Reus (5), Mario Gotze, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Muller, Andre Schurrle (4)
Most Assists Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller (4), Philipp Lahm, Marco Reus (3)
The Key Targets
After impressing in the final third during qualifying, Lahm’s side have surprisingly struggled in recent friendlies. A 1-1 draw with Italy preceded back-to-back 1-0 wins over England and Chile before an experimental Germany XI registered a goalless home draw with Poland in the middle of last month. Sunday evening’s 2-2 draw against Cameroon once again underlined their defensive frailties ahead of the tournament.
Despite a move to central midfield for club Bayern Munich, Philipp Lahm will be fielded as a right-back in Low’s familiar 4-2-3-1 set-up. His raids down the flank and delivery from out wide provided a trio of assists during qualifying and will bring Lahm, who is available for 6.4 in FantasyiTeam, onto many radars. Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker and Bayern’s Jerome Boateng are Low’s preferred central defensive partnership – the Gunners defender scored twice during qualifying and also notched the winner against England and comes in at 5.9 in FantasyiTeam to Boateng’s 5.8. At left-back, Erik Durm looks set to get the nod after Borussia Dortmund team-mate Marcel Schmelzer was eliminated from the final 23-man squad on Monday – priced at just 5.4 in FantasyiTeam, he’s the most budget friendly of Lahm’s likely defensive starters.
In central midfield, both Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira have been hampered by injuries over the last few months. The latter has only just recovered from months on the sidelines with a knee problem and, whilst he was preferred to Toni Kroos when fully fit, there are surely question marks over his match sharpness right now – Kroos was more productive over the qualifiers, serving up three goals and a pair of assists and, like Schweinsteiger, comes in at 6.4 in FantasyiTeam.
Further up the field, Low’s selection policy over the group stages suggests that only Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller are guaranteed starters in the four attacking slots. The Arsenal man is also first-choice spot-kick taker and played a part in 12 of his nation’s goals over the qualifiers, courtesy of eight strikes and four assists, whilst Muller mirrored Ozil’s creative endeavours from his role on the right in addition to scoring four times and is slightly more expensive in FantasyiTeam, at 7.5 to 7.4.
The Long Shots
With numerous options for the left wing and lone forward role, Low’s starting line-up is difficult to predict. It seems likely that Mario Gotze, Marco Reus and Andre Schurrle will compete for the role out wide, with Julian Draxler perhaps restricted to sub duties, though the aforementioned trio, along with Miroslav Klose, are all capable of being handed the central striking role, too.
Reus started more qualifiers than any of his rivals and subsequently comes in at 7.6 in FantasyiTeam, though Gotze – available for only 6.5 in FantasyiTeam – has been named in the first XI in four of the last five friendlies and seems to have the edge in the pecking order. Both players started against Cameroon last week, with Reus out wide and Gotze handed the chance to lead the line.
Schurrle, along with Klose, is classified as a forward in FantasyiTeam and is the cheaper of the pair at 8.0 to 8.4 – the Chelsea man started the last two qualifiers and notched four times, though has since featured in the XI in one of the last five friendlies, though climbed off the bench to notch against Cameroon last week.
Further Analysis
Group A – Brazil,Cameroon, Croatia, Mexico
Group B – Australia, Chile, Holland, Spain
Group C – Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan
Group D – Costa Rica, England, Italy, Uruguay
Group E – Ecuador, France, Honduras, Switzerland
Group F – Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria,
Fantasy iTeam
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Our League name is Fantasy Football Scout and the pin is 4915.
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