Nelly the psychic elephant predicts Germany over Ukraine

The Germany national team will look to continue its ascent into soccer legends when it kicks off its Euro 2016 tournament on Sunday against the Ukraine. Who will win Germany vs. Ukraine?

It’s such a shame that Marco Reus misses out again due to injury but Germany have ample replacements – we really do have some great players in midfield.

Manuel Neuer, who is likely to captain the side in the Group C opener against Ukraine, said the team would be looking at France’s match against Romania for the opening game before concentrating on its own.

According to Ukrainian media, the atmosphere in the team is very positive and our guys are ready to do battle with the world champions.

Germany coach Joachim Loew has called up Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah to replace the injured Antonio Ruediger. Jerome Boateng isn’t fully fit but is still expected to start, probably alongside Valencia’s Shkodran Mustafi.

Germany are [1.62] to start their campaign with a win, and although I’m confident they will go far in this tournament (I backed Die Mannschaft to win it in my Group C preview), the injuries in defence are a big concern.

“As a bloke, he is extremely important for us and is on a very good path”.

Since qualifying, Germany has lost friendly games to France, England and most recently Slovakia in Augsburg, while beating Italy and Hungary. Simply sign up and back Germany at the usual price, if they win then the returns will be topped up to the enhanced value. Nine goals conceded in five games shows Loew has some questions over his defense. For one he has Sevilla’s Yevhen Konoplyanka as a strong left winger and Dynamo Kyiv’s Andriy Yarmolenko as a right winger. Ukraine is ranked number 19 worldwide but is considered one of the best teams in the tournament and is anticipated to meet Germany in the knockout rounds.

I think Germany are the stronger side, but I just can’t get excited about backing them here at [1.62]. Beyond the results, they have continued their evolution under Low, who has phased out the counter-attacking approach from the 2010 World Cup in favour of a more possession-based style built upon the ideas of Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich, where numerous Germany stars play, and, to a lesser extent, the principles of Borussia Dortmund under Thomas Tuchel.

“In the last few matches we thought a lot about our defensive operation and we came up with a few things, including for defensive set pieces”, he said. Some of the key players such as Philipp Lahm and Per Mertesacker have departed the worldwide scene, but this squad is still bristling with talent, and there is plenty of tournament experience on hand.

Ukraine are coming into the first match of Euro 2016 on the back of a good run of form after winning our last four matches and being unbeaten in our last six.