England vs Germany

Wembley Stadium forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering Nations League Group A3 showdown between England and Germany. With both sides already out of contention for the playoffs, nothing more than the bragging rights will be at stake.

It’s been an abysmal 2022/23 Nations League campaign for England. Winless in all five Group A3 matches (D2, L3), the ‘Three Lions’ have suffered relegation to League B ahead of the final matchday. A narrow 1-0 defeat at Italy a few days ago sealed England’s fate, extending their winless streak to five competitive matches for the first time since 1992. More importantly, Gareth Southgate’s men failed to score from open play in any of those five games, with Harry Kane’s penalty in a 1-1 draw with Germany remaining England’s solitary goal in the ongoing Nations League season. Staring down the barrel of a three-game winless home run for the first time since March 2018, the hosts will be out to relieve some pressure on Southgate’s shoulders ahead of the Qatar World Cup.

In the meantime, visiting Germany looked on the verge of qualifying for the Nations League playoffs before Hungary’s shocking 1-0 win in Leipzig last time out knocked them down from a 13-match unbeaten run under Hansi Flick’s stewardship (W9, D4). In addition to drawing a blank for the first time since a 2-0 defeat to England at Euro 2020, ‘Die Mannschaft’ can no longer hope to reach the Nations League semi-finals. On top of that, the Germans have only won one of their last six internationals (D4, L1), scoring more than once on just one occasion in that span. Now facing the risk of suffering back-to-back losses for the first time since October 2018, the visitors will draw inspiration from their stellar away form. They’ve avoided defeat on their last eight international travels (W5, D3), excluding their underwhelming foray into Euro 2020.