Northern Ireland will be looking to continue their perfect start to their Euro 2020 qualification campaign when they welcome Germany to Windsor Park on Monday night.

Michael O'Neill's side have won all four of their Group C games thus far to top the section, sitting three points clear of second-placed Germany on the same number of matches.

Match preview

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Northern Ireland booked a spot at their first ever European Championships in 2016 by winning six of their 10 qualification fixtures, suffering just one defeat in the process. O'Neill's side famously reached the round of 16 in France, ultimately losing 1-0 to Wales.

The tournament proved to be a huge step in the right direction despite the disappointing last-16 loss, and the Green and Whites have given themselves a real chance of being present in the finals of Euro 2020.

Northern Ireland opened their Group C campaign with back-to-back home wins over Estonia and Belarus in March, before beating the same two opponents on the road in their June fixtures. They were far from impressive in their friendly with Luxembourg at Windsor Park on Thursday night but just about secured the victory courtesy of an own goal late in the first period.

With respect to Estonia and Belarus, O'Neill's side have had a kind start to their qualification process. Their next two are huge, though, following a clash with Germany with a trip to the Netherlands on October 10.

Northern Ireland have also still got to welcome Ronald Koeman's side and travel to Germany in the final stages of their qualification campaign, showing the task that is ahead despite a positive start thus far.

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Germany made an excellent start to their campaign by overcoming the Netherlands back in March, before beating Belarus and Estonia in their two June fixtures to move onto nine points from three matches.

Joachim Low's side would have been looking to make it a double over Koeman's side on Friday night, but the Netherlands had other ideas and recorded a hugely impressive 4-2 victory to inflict a first Group C loss on Germany.

Serge Gnabry gave the home side a ninth-minute lead in Hamburg before the Netherlands turned the match on its head in the second period. Toni Kroos did level the scores from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute, only for the visitors to score twice in the final 11 minutes to secure the win.

In terms of what is left for Germany in the section, Low's team will travel to Northern Ireland and Estonia in their next two before hosting Belarus and Northern Ireland in their final two fixtures in November.

Die Mannschaft have finished third in the last two European Championships, while they were the runners-up at Euro 2008. The three-time champions have not won the competition since 1996, though, and will be looking to enjoy more European success next summer.

Northern Ireland form: WWWW

Germany form: WWWL

Team News

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Northern Ireland have no fresh injury concerns from the team that faced Luxembourg.

Ciaron Brown, Alfie McCalmont and Ethan Galbraith all made their senior bows in the international friendly but there will be a more experienced look to the XI on Monday night.

Gavin Whyte's impressive performance could see the 23-year-old keep his spot in the final third, while the likes of Jonny Evans, Paddy McNair and Jamal Lewis will all return to the side.

Steven Davis will again skipper the team from the middle of the park, with Kyle Lafferty, Josh Magennis and Conor Washington providing the threat further forward.

As for Germany, Low could decide to make alterations from the side that started against the Netherlands.

Gnabry should keep his spot at centre-forward having scored against Koeman's side, but Ilkay Gundogan and Kai Havertz are both pushing for positions in the team.

There are not expected to be any changes in the back three, though, while Timo Werner and Marco Reus should both keep their spots in the final third of the field.

Northern Ireland possible starting lineup: Peacock-Farrell; McLaughlin, Cathcart, J Evans, Lewis; McNair, Davis, C Evans; Megennis, Washington, Lafferty

Germany possible starting lineup: Neuer; Ginter, Sule, Tah; Schulz, Kroos, Gundogan, Kimmich; Reus, Gnabry, Werner

We say: Northern Ireland 0-2 Germany

It would certainly not be a surprise to see Northern Ireland pick up a positive result on home soil. Germany will be desperate to return to winning ways following their loss on Friday night, though, and we fancy the visitors to claim all three points courtesy of a narrow success.

Written by
Matt Law

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