Germany vs Ukraine: Preview, predictions and lineups

Euro 2024 is on the horizon and hosts Germany are in pre-tournament action on Monday night as they take on Ukraine in Nuremberg.

The signs were once ominous for the German national team following a dreadful 2023 in the wake of an early World Cup exit. Had they been forced to qualify for this summer’s tournament, the three-time European champions may have struggled.

However, with Julian Nagelsmann at the helm, there’s a sense of the hosts gathering some momentum ahead of the tournament. Germany enjoyed an excellent break in March as they downed France and the Netherlands with relative conviction. They will open up the tournament against Scotland on 14 June.

Ukraine qualified for Euro 2024 through the play-offs. They overcame Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland to progress and will fancy their chances of enjoying a prosperous summer given the group they’ve been drawn into. Ukraine will face Belgium, Romania and Slovakia in Group E.

Here’s 90min’s preview of Monday’s pre-Euro 2024 friendly.

Germany vs Ukraine H2H Record (Last Five Games)

Current form (all competitions)

Nagelsmann named a 27-man provisional squad for Euro 2024, meaning he’ll cut just one player after Germany‘s two pre-tournament fixtures.

Mats Hummels and Leon Goretzka are two big names not included, with Bayern Munich tandem Jamal Musiala and Aleksandar Pavlovic both injury doubts for Monday’s game.

There were plenty of German stars on show during Saturday’s Champions League final but there’s no chance the likes of Antonio Rudiger, Nico Schlotterbeck, Toni Kroos and Niclas Fullkrug will play on Monday.

Germany predicted lineup vs Ukraine (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Kimmich, Tah, Koch, Raum; Gundogan, Andrich; Hofmann, Wirtz, Sane; Havertz.

There are plenty of familiar faces in Serhiy Rebrov’s squad and there hasn’t been too much turnover from the side that reached the quarter-finals at Euro 2020.

Premier League stars Mykhailo Mudryk and Oleksandr Zinchenko are both expected to start on Monday, with Girona forward Artem Dovbyk one to watch after his impressive debut season in La Liga.

Ukraine predicted lineup vs Germany (4-3-3): Bushchan; Konoplya, Zabarnyi, Matviyenko, Mykolenko; Zinchenko, Sudakov, Malinovskyi; Tsyhankov, Dovbyk, Mudryk.

These two sides played out a six-goal thriller in their most recent meeting last year but they’d do well to live up to such scoring heights on Monday.

While both coaches will be wanting their respective sides to get up to speed ahead of the tournament, an intense game shouldn’t be expected in Nuremberg. Substitutions will be aplenty and neither team is going to perform anywhere near their apex.

However, the hosts should be able to get over the line against a tactically sound and well-drilled Ukraine.

Prediction: Germany 2-1 Ukraine

READ THE LATEST EURO 2024 NEWS, PREVIEWS & PLAYER RATINGS

Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
90 Mins