Germany vs Greece: Preview, Prediction & Betting Picks

Germany take on Greece in their final friendly game before they begin their quest for European Championship glory as the host country.

Date: 6/7/24

Kick-off time: 11:45 am

Venue: Borussia-Park

Manager Julian Nagelsmann will get one final look at his Germany side before he has to reduce his provisional squad to 26 players ahead of the Euros. The Germans will be amongst the favourites for the trophy as they look to go deep into the tournament in front of their own fans. There is little Premier League representation in the squad with Pascal Gross and Kai Havertz the only England-based players included, but there is plenty of quality across the whole pitch.

Greece won the Euros in 2004, but will not be participating in this summer’s tournament after being eliminated in the playoffs. They were in a qualifying group alongside France, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland and Gibraltar, in which they finished third. They entered the first playoff phase, and advanced with a 5-0 win over Kazakhstan. This set up a game with Georgia to earn a place in the competition. However, after a 0-0 draw, they lost 4-2 on penalties to miss out.

Defensively, Greece have been solid as of late, keeping clean sheets in four of their last six, though they conceded against superior teams in France and Netherlands. Germany have plenty of goal threats to rely on, including Havertz who has scored twice in his last four appearances for the national team. He will be hoping to continue a strong season in which he provided 20 goal involvements in the Premier League.

These two countries have met nine times before, and Germany are unbeaten against their Greek opponents, winning six. However, they have not faced off since June 2012 in the quarter-final of the Euros. Germany won 4-2 with goals from Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus helping them to victory.

Germany Team News

Toni Kroos and Antonio Rudiger could be unavailable for this game due to their involvement for Real Madrid in the Champions League final the week before. Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck and Niclas Fullkrug may also be absent.

Greece Team News

Liverpool left-back Kostas Tsimikas should play a role for Greece. West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos may also be involved. Ex-Sheffield United man George Baldock could make an appearance.

Germany Form Guide

In their last five games, Germany have won two, lost two and drawn one. As they are hosting the upcoming Euros in the summer, Germany did not have to go through the qualifying process, meaning all of their fixtures have been friendlies. They are currently on a two-game winning streak, their latest victory being a 2-1 win against Netherlands. Their opponents took the lead through Joey Veerman, but they responded shortly after with a goal from Maximilian Mittlestadt. Niclas Fullkrug scored with five minutes to go to ensure a win for the Germans. Another win against France preceded this, in which they won 2-0. Florian Wirtz gave them the lead in the very first minute, before Kai Havertz netted early in the second half.

Before this was a 2-0 defeat at Austria. Marcel Sabitzer put the hosts ahead just before the half hour mark. Shortly after the restart, Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane saw red, as the visitors were reduced to ten men. They could not overcome their disadvantage as Christoph Baumgartner doubled the lead. This followed another loss, this time at home to Turkey. Havertz broke the deadlock just five minutes into the game. Turkey managed to turn it around before half-time with two goals in the last ten minutes of the half. Fullkrug found the equaliser early in the second half, but then Germany conceded a penalty to win the visitors the game.

The first game of this run was against Mexico, which they drew 2-2. Antonio Rudiger found the back of the net to put the Germans ahead, but this was cancelled out by Uriel Antuna. Erick Sanchez then turned it around giving Mexico the lead, though Fullkrug made sure parity was restored. Before they host Greece, Germany will take on Ukraine in another friendly on Monday night.

Greece Form Guide

In their last five games, Greece have won two, drawn two and lost one. It has been a solid stretch for Greece, but they missed out on Euro 2024 qualification as they were defeated when it mattered most. This came in their most recent game against Georgia, where they drew 0-0, but lost 4-2 on penalties. They were much superior in possession, but could not find the back of the net, despite their hosts being reduced to ten men on the stroke of half-time.

They set up the game with Georgia by emphatically beating Kazakhstan 5-0. They were by far the dominant team, reflected by the final scoreline. They went ahead early through a ninth minute Anastasios Bakasetas penalty. The lead was soon doubled by Dimitrios Pelkas before Fotis Ioannidis and Dimitrios Kourbelis made it four prior to half-time. There was not as much goalmouth action in the second half, but an 85th minute Yerkin Tapalov own goal completed the scoring. This followed an impressive 2-2 draw with France in their final group qualifier. Les Bleus played a weakened side, but took the lead through Randal Kolo Muani just before the break. The game was turned on its head 15 minutes into the second half with strikes from Bakasetas and Ioannidis. Youssouf Fofana equalised with 15 minutes to go to ensure the points were shared.

A friendly against New Zealand preceded this, in which they won 2-0. Both goals came in the first half, both Giannis Konstantelias and Giorgos Giakoumakis getting on the scoresheet. The first game of this stretch was a 1-0 home defeat to Netherlands. The only goal of the game came in second half stoppage time, with Liverpool centre back Virgil Van Dijk scoring from the penalty spot to condemn Greece to a late defeat.

We expect Germany to pick up a final win before they begin their Euro 2024 campaign. Greece will cause them some issues, but the superior quality of the Germans should allow them to prevail with a clean sheet – Germany 2-0 Greece

Germany vs Greece will broadcast on Apple TV