The international break is upon us and Germany will host Czech Republic in a friendly on Wednesday.
With several uncapped players being called up for international duty for the first time in their careers, the coaches are most likely viewing this game as an opportunity to integrate young blood to their setups.
Several high-profile German internationals like Manuel Neuer, Timo Werner, Serge Gnabry, Matthias Ginter, Sane, Goretzka and Toni Kroos have been ruled out of the fixture. Meanwhile, Philipp Max, Felix Uduokhai, Oliver Baumann and Bote Baku have all earned their first international call up.
Germany have endured some really underwhelming results this term so far having drawn four and just won once in their last five fixtures. They will need to level up in order to make it out of Group 4 of the UEFA Nations League and as such, Joachim Low will be looking to find a new spark when his side takes on Czech Republic.
On the other hand, Czech Republic manager Jaroslav Silhavy will be looking to find a winning combination after being forced to stitch together a make-do playing XI in their previous outing against Scotland where a number of his main players were ruled out due to injury.
Even here, he is likely to be without several of his main players and it will be interesting to see who will take the field for Czech Republic on Wednesday.
Germany vs Czech Republic Head-to-Head
Germany and Czech Republic have clashed 25 times till date. Germany have dominated the fixture winning 16 times while Czech Republic have won only six times. Three games have ended in draws.
The last time these two sides met was in 2017 in a World Cup qualifier and Germany won the game 2-1
Germany form guide: D-D-D-W-D
Czech Republic form guide: W-L-W-W-L
Germany vs Czech Republic Team News
Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marco Reus haven't been named in the squad despite returning from injuries recently. Joshua Kimmich is injured and out till January. As mentioned earlier, several young players are expected to be starting for Germany this Wednesday as most of the senior players are unavailable.
Injuries: Joshua Kimmich
Suspensions: None
As for Czech Republic, they are likely to be without the likes of Jan Boril, Ondrej Kudela, Lukas Provod, Filip Nguyen and Michael Rabusic due to the virus. Ondrej Celustka, Patrik Schick and Adam Hlozek are injured and out.
Injuries: Ondrej Celustka, Patrik Schick and Adam Hlozek
Suspensions: None
Germany vs Czech Republic Predicted Lineups
Germany predicted starting XI: Bernd Leno; Benjamin Henrichs, Robin Koch, Antonio Rudiger, Robin Gosens; Florian Neuhaus, Mahmoud Dahoud; Philipp Hofmann, Nadiem Amiri, Julian Brandt; Luca Waldschmidt
Czech Republic predicted starting XI: Tomas Vaclik; Vladimir Coufal, Roman Hubnik, Ondřej Čelůstka, Jaroslav Zeleny; Tomas Soucek, Borek Dockal; Tomas Malinsky, Vladimir Darida, Matej Vydra; Michael Krmencik
Germany vs Czech Republic Prediction
Well, it's going to be a much more low-profile contest than usual with many recognizable faces missing from both sides. Given Germany's poor form of late, we think this one could end in a draw.
Prediction: Germany 1-1 Czech Republic