Ukraine can breach hosts’ defence
Germany v Ukraine
Saturday November 14, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports Red Button
It looked as though the hard part of our BTTS bet was done early last night, as Edinson Cavani scored with Uruguay’s first attack inside five minutes. However, Colombia let us down as they crumbled to one of their worst ever defeats, losing 3-0 in Barranquilla.
We’ll switch our attention to Germany now, as Die Mannschaft are in Nations League action against Ukraine. With Switzerland seemingly sliding towards relegation from the top tier, a place at the Nations League Finals is between Germany, Ukraine and Spain.
Germany beat the Czech Republic 1-0 in their most recent friendly, but the team will be completely different tonight. The Bayern contingent will return, so players like Manuel Neuer, Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane can be unleashed. Timo Werner will likely be deployed in a fast-paced forward line (they’re calling it the Turbo Trio in the German media), and Ilkay Gundogan will provide the calmness in midfield, as Toni Kroos is suspended.
Germany are unbeaten in the Nations League, but they have only won one of their four matches, and that was a 2-1 success in Kiev. Jogi Loew’s side hasn’t kept a single clean sheet in this current Nations League campaign, and they haven’t managed a shut-out in the UNL since their very first game against France, which was two years ago.
Ukraine have beaten Switzerland and Spain in the Nations League, but both of those victories were on home soil, and their road record is less inspiring. Their last two away games in the UNL have seen them lose 4-1 in Slovakia and 4-0 in Spain. Andriy Shevchenko’s side just lost 2-0 in Poland, and last month they were shredded 7-1 by France in Paris.
Ukraine have been hit by a number of COVID-19-related withdrawals, but Shevchenko can still field a team that features talented attacking players like Junior Moraes, Marlos and Atalanta’s Ruslan Malinovskiy. Ukraine have scored in all but one of their Nations League matches since the competition began, and I think they can score here. I’ll back Both Teams To Score at 2.021/1.
I don’t usually put up multiple selections on this column, but I will today, because Serge Gnabry is worth backing in the to score market at 2.0421/20. The Bayern forward has scored 14 goals in 15 caps for Germany, and he’ll get chances against a makeshift Ukrainian defence.
Source: Betfair German
