World cup champions Germany have a rather unique distinction as a team which is likely to have as many as 5 members from the same club playing in the starting 11. The club is naturally Bayern munich. Bayern's Manuel Neuer , Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Muller and Mario Gotze are all expected to start vs Ukraine. With only Podolski and Mario Gomez as the recognized strikers in the squad Joachim Low is expected to play in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Thomas Muller upfront but in reality only Sami Khedira is expected to play holding midfield with Kroos orchestrating the play to creative players Ozil, Gotze, Draxler and Muller all playing as attacking midfielders and with most likely a false 9 formation with no out and out strikers.
Speaking of Strikers Ukraine no longer posses a striking Master class like Andriy Schevchenko who terrorized opposition defenses for 2 decades. Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konyplyanka are the most recognized players in the ukraine squad. They will both be looking to cement their reputation in this tournament and are expected to move to bigger clubs this summer. Ruslan rotan the Ukranian captain is expected to be a lynchpin in their midfield around whom ukraine team is expected to organizedly park the bus and make life difficult for the germans. Rotan's free kicks are dangerous for the germans and will mean germans will be careful not to give away free kicks around the area and will keep them on their toes when they eventually concede one. The experience and knowhow of former Bayern midfielder Anatoliy Tymoschuk has will be vital for the ukraine in handling the german's passing game.
Overall Germany is widely expected to reach the final or even win the tournament and while ukranian's may be put in a valiant effort the germans will just nudge it and are expected to win the game.
Prediction : Germany 2-1 Ukraine
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