Germany v Serbia: Preview, expected line-ups, stats and where to watch

Preview for Germany v Serbia

Germany will hope to bounce back from their first defeat under Jurgen Klopp when they host Serbia in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday.

Die Mannschaft are still without a win under Klopp after following their 1-1 draw with the Netherlands with a shock home loss to Greece last Sunday.

Substitute Dimitrios Kourbelis scored the only goal of the game to send Greece top of Group B in League A, leaving Germany in a difficult position in third with only one point to their name.

Klopp named a 44-man squad for an extended international break featuring four Nations League games. That squad was divided into two separate groups, with Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen the only player selected to feature in both.

Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Burkardt, part of the second group, linked up with the team ahead of the defeat to Greece following injuries to Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=u4oky7PvNic&si=8n6BHthJfVk4Chs5

Both Wirtz and Burkardt came off the bench against Greece and could both be in line to start at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern Munich duo Tom Bischof and Aleksander Pavlovic will hope to have an impact at their home ground after joining as part of the second group, which also features the likes of Newcastle United defender Malick Thiaw, Brentford’s Vitaly Janelt, Cologne forward Said El Mala and on-loan Juventus attacker Nick Woltemade.

And, while the group of players will be largely different, Klopp made it clear Germany will learn from their narrow loss to Greece.

“We’ll change the squad, change the team,” Klopp said. “The good thing is that the other team doesn’t necessarily know how we’re going to play, but we don’t know right now how we’re going to play, because we have to bring that group together again.

“We can take a lot out of this game, and we will do that — and we’ll work on it.”

Serbia suffered a second successive defeat to start their Nations League campaign as they were beaten 2-1 by the Netherlands last time out.

The Oranje went ahead through a controversial first-half Mexx Meerdink penalty before Luka Jovic equalised for Serbia, only for Meerdink to seal victory for Xavi’s side with his second.

But coach Veljko Paunovic was satisfied with his team’s performance.

“I certainly think the impression left is different. Defeats are never welcome, but if one has to lose, this is the way to do it,” Paunovic said.

“We showed a new side of ourselves—freshness, enthusiasm, and even a sense of joy in our play—and we want to improve even further in that regard.

“In the first half, we displayed excellent organization and expended a great deal of physical energy to meet all the tactical demands we had set for ourselves. We succeeded in doing so.

“The most important thing is that we saw we could compete with them, score against them, and pose a threat. You have to be organized and ready for physical duels. Physically, the Netherlands is a machine, but we rose to that challenge.”

With previous history of producing a shock result against Germany, Serbia will hope to rise to another significant challenge as they look to avoid slumping to another defeat that would leave them with an uphill battle to avoid relegation.

The UEFA Nations League Table

Team News for Germany v Serbia

With a new squad of players coming in for the final two Nations League fixtures, Klopp has no injury worries with which to contend.

Aleksandar Mitrovic’s injury-enforced absence for Serbia means their primary attacking options are Jovic and Dejan Joveljic.

Joveljic started against the Netherlands, but Jovic could come into the XI after scoring as a substitute.

Expected line-ups for Germany v Serbia

Germany: Urbig; Baku, Anton, Thiaw, Raum; Janelt, Pavlovic; Adeyemi, Bischof, Wirtz; Burkardt

Serbia: V Milinkovic-Savic; Terzic, Pavlovic, Babic, Nadeljkovic; Lukic, Gudelj; S Milinkovic-Savic, Stankovic, Zivkovic; Joveljic

Recent Form & Stats for Germany v Serbia

• Germany are winless in their last four games stretching back to their final World Cup group game against Ecuador.
• Serbia, meanwhile, have won just one of their last six games, with that victory coming against Saudi Arabia in March.
• Germany and Serbia have met only three times, with each side winning once.
• Serbia’s victory came in their only competitive meeting at the 2010 World Cup. A 1-0 win over 10-man Germany marked Serbia’s first as an independent nation at the World Cup and was Die Mannschaft’s first loss in the group stage since 1986.
• Germany’s 1-0 defeat to Greece marked the first time in 15 matches that they have failed to score.
• Serbia are without a clean sheet in their last 11 games. They last shut their opponents out in a 1-0 win in Latvia in September last year.

Where to Watch Germany v Serbia: TV and online streams

Germany v Serbia kicks off at 7:45pm UK time. It is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video for a pay-per-view price of £2.49.

Prediction for Germany v Serbia

Germany’s defeat against Greece underlined the scale of the task facing Klopp to turn their fortunes around, but Serbia should be more accommodating opposition.

Germany

1 – 0

Serbia

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