Preview: Germany vs Sweden
Defending champions Germany will be looking to bounce back to form when going up against Sweden on Saturday night.
Joachim Loew at Germany’s training session in Sochi ahead of the World Cup holders’ clash with Sweden
Germany had only picked up one victory from their previous six matches prior to the 2018 World Cup and that lack of form showed in the surprise 1-0 defeat to Mexico in their Group F opener.
That was just the second time a German team had lost their first match at the major tournament, having gone down against also Algeria in 1982. However, they reached the final of the competition that year, so all hope is not lost.
Joachim Low is expected to make changes for the contest with Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus likely to start after coming off the bench last time out, whilst Julian Brandt, Mario Gomez and Leon Goretzka are all pushing for starts.
Another defeat for Die Mannschaft could see them eliminated from the tournament if Mexico, who are aiming for back-to-back World Cup wins for the first time since 2002, pick up all three points against South Korea.
Sweden started their campaign off with a gritty 1-0 win over the Taegeuk Warriors in Nizhny Novgorod although the Group F leaders were reliant on a penalty that was awarded after a VAR review.
That 1-0 win for Blagult was their first in an opening match at a World Cup since beating Mexico 3-0 as hosts in 1958 and they will be hoping to keep that momentum going on Saturday night.
Head coach Janne Andersson could decide to stick with the same starting 11 that beat South Korea, leaving Marcus Berg and Ola Toivonen to lead the line once again.
Germany (or West Germany) are unbeaten in their past 11 games against Sweden – winning six and drawing five – whose last win came against West Germany in April 1978.
