Germany lock horns with Belarus at Borussia Park in Mönchengladbach as Die Mannschaft aim to seal qualification for Euro 2020.
Germany are currently level on points with the Netherlands but sit second in their group due to an inferior head-to-head with the Dutch.owever, they will be able to qualify with a win if Northern Ireland fail to come away with a result in their next match against Ronald Koeman’s side.
Meanwhile Belarus occupy fourth place on four points after winning only one, drawing one and losing five of their opening seven games.
Joachim Löw will view this as a crucial game for his German side in terms of booking their place at Euro 2020 and will be hoping to achieve qualification from Group C as soon as possible.
With that said, here is 90mins preview for Saturday’s fixture.
Where to Watch
| When Is Kick Off? | Saturday 16 November |
| What Time Is Kick Off? | 19:45 (GMT) |
| Where Is It Played? | Borussia-Park |
| TV Channel/Live Stream? | Sky Sports Football HD |
| Referee? | Orel Grinfeld (ISR) |
Team News
Löw will have a number of absentees as Julian Draxler (match fitness), Marcel Halstenberg (thigh), Kai Havertz (thigh), Thilo Kehrer (foot), Marco Reus (ankle), Antonio Rüdiger (groin), Kevin Trapp (shoulder) Leroy Sane & Niklas Süle (both knee) and Emre Can (suspended) all remain unavailable.
Belarus manager Mikhail Markhel only has one injury concern to worry about, with Ivan Bakhar sustaining an unspecified injury that rules him out of Saturday’s game.
Predicted Lineups
| Germany: | Neuer; Klostermann, Ginter, Tah, Schulz; Kimmich, Kroos, Goretzka; Gnabry, Brandt, Werner |
| Belarus: | Gutor; Veretilo, Martynovich, Naumov, Polyakov; Yablonski, Kovalev; Dragun, Maevski, Stasevich; Laptev |
Head-to-Head Record
This will be the third meeting between the two sides, with Germany winning two of those three fixtures as both sides also drew 2-2 in an international friendly back in May 2008.
Germany won the reverse fixture 2-0 in Borisov back in June with Sané and Reus scoring the goals, meaning DFB hold an aggregate score of 4-2 over their Belarusian counterparts.
Recent Form
Despite losing 4-2 at the hands of the Netherlands in early September, Germany are the in-form side in Group C, winning 11 of their last 13 European qualifiers dating back to 2014. Moreover, Germany have won five of their last seven (1D 1L) in all competitions.
Germany have scored two or more goals in nine of their last ten games – scoring 28 in total – and have kept four clean sheets in their last six matches.
Contrastingly, Belarus have lost six of their last eight games, conceding 13 goals in the process. Things are not much better at the other end of the pitch, as the White Wings have scored a measly four goals in their last eight games.
The eastern European side have a poor away record in the Euro 2020 qualifiers (L2 W1) and currently sit 81st in the FIFA World Rankings, 68 places behind their opponents in 13th.
Here is how both teams have fared in their previous five fixtures.
| Germany | Belarus |
| Estonia 0-3 Germany (13/10) | Belarus 1-2 Netherlands (13/10) |
| N. Ireland 0-2 Germany (09/10) | Belarus 0-0 Estonia (10/10) |
| Germany 2-4 Netherlands (06/09) | Estonia 1-2 Belarus (06/09) |
| Germany 8-0 Estonia (11/06) | Belarus 0-1 N. Ireland (11/06) |
| Belarus 0-2 Germany (08/06) | Belarus 0-2 Germany (08/06) |
Prediction
Given the superiority of the German side in terms of points and personnel, this should be a relatively straightforward game for Löw and co.
A win is imperative for Germany as they look to achieve qualification from Group C in the smoothest manner possible, meanwhile Belarus will be hoping they do not finish rock bottom of Group C as they hold a three-point lead over Estonia who remain in fifth.
All in all a comfortable win should be on the cards for Germany, who should ease past Belarus in their penultimate game of the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Prediction: Germany 4-0 Belarus
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