Germany will host the reigning world champions at Allianz Arena on Tuesday, June 15, in their EURO 2020 opener. As a team that has struggled to achieve much in international tournaments in recent years, Germany will want to make a statement tonight, and they’ll receive the home crowd’s support in their quest of upsetting the tournament favourites.
Germany vs France
When: Tuesday, June 15 – 21:00 CEST
Where: Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany
Weather: Partly cloudy, 20°C
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande
The reigning World champions are favoured to claim gold at EURO 2020. They surely have the talent to do so, but they also been placed in a very tough group. Germany, Portugal, and Hungary are the teams France are going to face in Group F.
The first EURO 2020 opponents are Germany. The game is played tonight in Munich, where about 14,000 fans will be in the stands. That’s likely to give the Germans the morale boost they need to challenge such a powerful team as France.
No Defeat in Competitive Games for the French in Two Years
The French have won their previous four games and are without a single competitive defeat since June 2019. They did lose to Finland in a friendly last November, but that game wasn’t of great importance for Deschamps’s men.
In fact, the French boss decided not to pick his best players from the starting XI for that match. You can be certain that he will like his top men for tonight’s clash with Germany.
France are arguably the best team at the tournament, as evident from the fact that the bookies have given them the role of the title favourites. Kylian Mbappe, N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, and many others were on the team three years ago when France won the World Cup.
This time, Les Bleu seem even stronger with Karim Benzema back in the squad. The Real Madrid no.9 has been in terrific form this term, helping his team finish runner-up in La Liga. He was their top-scorer, as well as their most prolific assist-maker.
Germany Hoping to Upset the Betting Odds
Rather surprisingly, not many punters see Germany as the top favorites to win the tournament. The odds on this team are as long as 11.00 at some online sportsbooks. In comparison, the France odds are somewhere in the ballpark of 5.50.
The reason why very few have faith in Die Mannschaft is that they haven’t been very convincing of late. We saw them slip on a few occasions, including a 1-2 loss to North Macedonia in March.
Another problem for the German team is that their boss is on his way out. It’s not his decision, but the federation is reportedly looking for Joachim Low’s replacement. Apart from some relatively poor results, the Germans also blame him for the not-so-great atmosphere in the squad.
As a reminder, a few months ago, he dropped a couple of major German stars, most notably Thomas Muller and Matts Hummels. After seeing that his team doesn’t perform very well without them, he decided to call them back for EURO.
Sure, this team now looks more potent than before, but the question is whether they’re good enough to challenge for the title. On the bright side, Germany have a decent chance to secure at least a knockout stage.
Considering that four best-ranked third-placed teams will advance, Germany shouldn’t worry much. However, they do need points and snatching one from France would make their job much, much easier.
France vs Germany Betting Picks
Both sides will want to avoid a defeat in this game, so a draw seems like a possible outcome. Still, you have to favour France’s quality. This isn’t a game France should be losing.
Prediction: France +0.00 Asian Handicap (same as Draw no Bet) – 1.91 at Pinnacle
