Germany start a new era in the unassuming surrounds of St. Gallen on Thursday, as they continue their quest to reach the next World Cup under new management.
A Nationalmannschaft selected by Hansi Flick will travel to meet Liechtenstein on Swiss soil, aiming to recover from a rocky start to European Qualifying Group J and another deflating major tournament performance.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having finally seen 2014 World Cup winner Jogi Low disappear into the distance, following a last-16 exit in Euro 2020, Germany now get back on the road to Qatar 2022, with ground to make up after a rare defeat in the opening trio of matches.
In the dying embers of Low's once-glorious reign, the Nationalelf were beaten on home soil by a jubilant North Macedonia in March, with goals from Eljif Elmas and Goran Pandev sandwiching Ilkay Gundogan's effort to give the visitors a historic success in Duisburg.
Germany had begun with wins over Iceland and Romania to get the qualification process off to a suitably smooth start, but their humbling by the Macedonians was perhaps a sign of things to come in the summer.
Since being replaced by his erstwhile assistant Hansi Flick - as he succeeded former boss Jurgen Klinsmann - Low lead his side through the Euros' 'Group of Death' by the skin of their teeth, before being eliminated by England in a knife-edge encounter at Wembley.
The new Mannschaft manager, who led Bayern Munich to seven honours in 18 months at the helm while in Bavaria, will be intent on making a strong start to his time in charge, and his first team selection may well reflect that - despite the diminutive nature of Germany's opponents on Thursday.
© Reuters
A tiny dot on the football map, located on the Swiss border, lowly Liechtenstein have recently adopted St. Gallen's Kybunpark as their temporary home, while their own Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz undergoes renovation.
They will welcome the four-time world champions there this week in some trepidation, as Martin Stocklasa's men are ranked 186th in the world and suffered a dreadful start to their Group J campaign.
Successive defeats to Armenia, North Macedonia and Iceland - by an aggregate scoreline of 10 goals to one - have left them rooted to the bottom of the early table and without much hope of making an impression in the coming fixtures.
Having previously picked up just two points and two goals during qualification for the Euros - with a final goal difference of minus 29 - Liechtenstein's status as minnows is, therefore, almost unsurpassed.
In all, they have tasted victory just once from their last 23 outings (against San Marino), with their two latest friendly defeats coming as the away side in St. Gallen - a 7-0 drubbing by Switzerland - and in the Faroe Islands, where they lost 5-1.
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Though he is tasked with overseeing a revival of German fortunes in the coming years, Hansi Flick is likely to opt for evolution rather than revolution this month.
Players from his former club Bayern are set to form the backbone of the starting XI on Thursday, with captain Manuel Neuer still present in goal and Niklas Sule at the heart of defence. In midfield, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka should feature, behind a forward line which may include at least two from Leroy Sane, Thomas Muller and Serge Gnabry.
Talented teenagers Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Karim Adeyemi may also be offered an opportunity, with three fixtures to fulfil in the space of a week.
The hosts, meanwhile, are set to start two sons of former Serie A striker Mario Frick - the principality's all-time top scorer with 16 goals, as teenage forward Noah Frick is likely to start up front alongside older sibling Yanick Frick, who scored the consolation goal in their last competitive outing.
A Swiss Super League regular with FC Thun, captain Nicolas Hasler is Liechtenstein's top scorer among current players, and returns to national duty after an ankle ligament injury which kept him sidelined for several months.
Liechtenstein coach Martin Stocklasa has also called up nine new faces to a substantial squad, ready for a frenetically-scheduled week.
Liechtenstein possible starting lineup:
Buchel; Yildiz, Malin, Kaufmann, Hofer, Goppel; Wolfinger, Frommelt, Hasler; N. Frick, Y. Frick
Germany possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Klostermann, Sule, Rudiger, Gosens; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sane, Muller, Gnabry; Havertz
We say: Liechtenstein 0-6 Germany
Only the group winners qualify automatically for the finals, so Germany will be eager to get back on track in style under their new manager, who prefers a front-foot approach.
This is the third meeting between the Nationalelf and little Liechtenstein - following 4-0 and 6-0 wins for the former in 2010 World Cup qualifying - and, if selected, their top-class forwards will ensure a similar result this time around.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Germany win with a probability of 70.99%. A draw had a probability of 19.7% and a win for Liechtenstein had a probability of 9.29%.
The most likely scoreline for a Germany win was 0-1 with a probability of 16.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (15.82%) and 0-3 (10.23%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.74%), while for a Liechtenstein win it was 1-0 (4.51%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 15.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Germany would win this match.
