Europe UEFA Nations League (13-15 October)

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Germany vs Netherlands Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Germany:
Nubel; Kimmich, Rudiger, Tah, Mittelstadt; Andrich, Pavlovic, Gross; Wirtz, Undav, Gnabry

Netherlands:
Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Vrij, De Ligt, Van de Ven; Gravenberch, Reijnders, Q Timber; Simons, Zirkzee, Gakpo

Germany will welcome Netherlands to Munich in the most interesting fixture of UEFA Nations League on Monday. Julian Nagelsmann's men have two wins and one draw after three rounds and sit first with seven points. They only dropped points in the reverse fixture with Netherlands last month, recording victories over Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The victory in Zenica was expected, but not easy. At the end Germany secured a narrow 2:1 win thanks to Deniz Undav's brace in the first half. Edin Dzeko scored in the 70th minute, but that was all the hosts did. Nagelsmann is well aware Netherlands are class above Bosnia, but he will go for a victory. The young coach has many worries ahead of this game, especially at goalkeepers' position. Manuel Neuer has retired, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen is out for the season due to injury. Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz are not available too, while Niclas Fullkrug is in poor form after joined West Ham United. Undav is expect to lead the line after scoring a brace in Zenica.

Netherlands have collected five points after the first three rounds. They beat Bosnia 5:2 in the first round, but shared the points on the remaining two occasions. The draw with Germany is not a bad result, but the fans were expecting a victory against Hungary three days ago. Nevertheless, coach Ronald Koeman is surely satisfy with the draw. Netherlands were one-goal down until the 83rd minute, with key defender Virgil van Dijk sent off earlier. When it look like the unbeaten series came to the end, Denzel Dumfries scored an equalizer to extend Holland's unbeaten run to seven games away from home in the Nations League. However, visiting Germany is the toughest test for the Oranje, especially because they are very handicapped in the defense. As I wrote previously, Van Dijk is suspended. In addition, Nathan Ake, Jurrien Timber and Quilindschy Hartman are all out injured. The situation in midfield is similar as four players are unavailable - Teun Koopmeiners, Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman are all out injured, as well as long-term injury victim Frenkie de Jong.

Germany vs Netherlands Prediction:

I expect Over 2.5 goals in Munich. First of all, both coaches are offensive-minded tacticians. The reverse fixture in Amsterdam ended with a 2:2 draw. However, the key reasons for my pick is connect with the absentees in both squads. While Germany have issues with goalkeepers, the guests are without key defender Virgil van Dijk due to suspension.

Germany vs Netherlands Pick: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.58 with Pinnacle

 

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Spain vs Serbia Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Spain:
Raya; Porro, Vivian, Laporte, Cucurella; Zubimendi, Ruiz; Baena, Pedri, Oyarzabal; Morata

Serbia:
Rajkovic; Erakovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Nedeljkovic, Maksimovic, Grujic, Biramcevic; Samardzic, Mitrovic, Lukic

Spain will welcome Serbia knowing a victory would almost guarantee their spot at the top of Group 4 in League A. The Red Fury will enter the contest off the back of a narrow 1:0 win against Denmark three days ago. Luis de la Fuente's men were far from their best against the Denmark on Saturday, but still won thanks to Martin Zubimendi, who scored the only goal in the 79th minute. Spain are now first in the group, collecting seven points from their opening three matches. They played a goalless draw with Serbia in Belgrade before securing two victories against Switzerland and Denmark. But coach De La Fuente has huge injury issues. He is currently missing a number of important players through injury, starting with goalkeeper Unai Simon. The list also include Dani Carvajal, Robin Le Normand, Rodri, Dani Olmo, Gavi and Nico Williams. That's not all as the youngster Yamal is also out injured. AC Milan striker Alvaro Morata will lead the line, trying to improve his record of 36 goals for the national team.

Serbia started the campaign playing a goalless draw with Spain, while in the second round lost 2:0 to Denmark. Coach Dragan Stojkovic Piksi came under big pressure as the Eagles failed to score on three matches in a row. The response was very good, Serbia beat Switzerland 2:0 on Saturday, with Aleksandar Mitrovic adding to an own goal from Nico Elvedi to secure the victory. The Eagles are currently third in their group, two points behind Denmark and three from leaders Spain, but the players confidence is high at the moment. A positive result from this match would put them in good position ahead of their final two group games in November. This is not impossible having on mind Serbia have only lost one of their last five games across all competitions. Coach Stojkovic could decide to select the same eleven that started the last match with Switzerland. New captain Aleksandar Mitrovic should continue to lead the line. The 30-year-old striker has scored 59 goals for his country and he is in nice form this season, scoring 14 goals in 11 appearances in all competitions for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Spain vs Serbia Prediction:

Spain are the reigning Nations League champions, having triumphed in the 2022-23 competition, beating Croatia in the final. According to me, they are favorites for the trophy again. Serbia remained unbeaten in Belgrade last month, but that was at home. Now Spain have the home advantage, while the quality is on their side anyway. I expect Spain to win in handicap.

Spain vs Serbia Pick: Spain -1.5 AH @ 1.97 with Pinnacle

 

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Poland vs Croatia Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Poland:
Skorupski; Dawidowicz, Bednarek, Kiwior; Frankowski, Zielinski, Szymanski, Urbanski, Zalewski; Piatek, Lewandowski

Croatia:
Livakovic; Gvardiol, Caleta-Car, Sutalo; Perisic, Modric, Kovacic, Sosa; Sucic, Matanovic, Kramaric

Poland will welcome Croatia to Warsaw knowing the difference between them is just three points in the League A Group 1 rankings in the UEFA Nations League. Poland were beaten 3:1 by group leaders Portugal on matchday three, so they are in "must win" situation now. Even a draw is not good enough as they lost 1:0 in Croatia in September. However, the players confidence isn't high after two defeats. To be worse, they were outplayed by Portugal, who scored through Bernardo Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo before the half-time. Poland were unable to turn out the match and lost 3:1 at the end. Coach Michal Probierz has additional issues and he can not count on Bartlomiej Dragowski, Mateusz Skrzypczak and Kacper Kozlowski. That's not all as defender Sebastian Walukiewicz was taken off at the half-time of the match with Portugal due to injury. Most probably Arsenal's defender Jakub Kiwior will start here.

Croatia are on the second place in Group 1, sandwiched between the leaders Portugal and third-placed Poland. That means everything is possible as the difference in both directions is three points. It is clear nothing will be decided until the last two rounds that will take place in November. On Saturday they beat Scotland 2:1 thanks to goals scored by Igor Matanovic and Andrej Kramaric. Che Adams netted an equalizer in the finish of the game, but the goal was disallowed after VAR decision. The Chequered Ones will try to replicate the last year's run when secured the final. Coach Zlatko Dalic has some issues ahead of this match. Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic has not played against Scotland due to the birth of his child. It is not clear will he play against Poland, but Dalic and the fans are hopeful that he will be able to take part in Tuesday's contest. His presence is very important as Mario Pasalic is rated as doubtful after left the match with Scotland at the half-time. Captain Luka Modric completed the full 90 minutes on Saturday and might be rested now considering he has 39 years.

Poland vs Croatia Prediction:

Poland matches in the group were usually efficient. They beat Scotland 3:2 in Glasgow, while lost 3:1 to Portugal at home. The only exception was the match in Croatia where they lost 1:0. Poland now play at home, they will be supported by their fans and I think they will score. Poland have excellent strikers in Piatek and Lewandowski. The latter has scored 84 goals for the national team. Croatia, meanwhile, scored on all three matches in the group, while conceded on two of them. I think both national teams will find the back of the net here.

Poland vs Croatia Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.81 with Pinnacle

 

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Switzerland vs Denmark Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Switzerland:
Kobel; Widmer, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez, Aebischer; Amdouni, Freuler, Xhaka, Ndoye; Embolo

Denmark:
Schmeichel; Kristensen, Vestergaard, Nelsson; Bah, Hjulmand, Hojbjerg, Kristiansen; Eriksen, Hojlund, Poulsen

Switzerland will welcome Denmark to Kybunpark as both national teams will be aiming to bounce back from defeats in Group 4 of League A. Switzerland have visited Serbia and many experts thought Murat Yakin's men will win, but it wasn't like that. Serbia won 2:0 at the end, mostly due to Swiss defenders' mistakes. The strikers were not any better, they were unable to score, also missing a penalty in the second half. I will remind You that Switzerland reached the quarter-finals at EURO 2024, but they were beaten on penalties by England. Nevertheless, the situation looks very complicated at the moment. Switzerland are rock-bottom in the group after losing all three of their matches to Denmark, Spain and Serbia, conceding eight goals in the process. They are facing the possibility of being relegated to League B for the next Nations League. Yakin could make some changes in the starting eleven, but four biggest stars - goalkeeper Kobel from Borussia Dortmund, defender Akanji from Manchester City, midfielder Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen and striker Embolo from Monaco - will definitely start here.

Denmark have collected six points after the opening three rounds of the Nations League. They managed to beat Switzerland and Serbia, but lost to Spain three days ago. The Red and Whites were close to securing a point against Spain on Saturday evening, but Martin Zubimendi scored in the 79th minute of the match. Denmark are still without coach, with Morten Wieghorst in charge on a caretaker basis. As You probably know, Kasper Hjulmand left the national team following the poor results on EURO 2024 where Denmark were eliminated in the Round of 16. However, Wieghorst is doing a solid job and the fans are satisfy. The Federation will decide about his future in the next period, depending of the overall results. Wieghorst will probably opt for more attacking formation compared to the side that started against Spain. Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund is expected to lead the line on Tuesday night, even he is not in best form. Hojlund is still working his way back to full fitness after missing the first four rounds of the Premier League due to a muscular problem. And more important, he is yet to score. The experienced Yussuf Poulsen, who has scored 14 goals for the national team, could replace Albert Gronbaek.

Switzerland vs Denmark Prediction:

I think Switzerland will win here. The home advantage is the key reason for my pick. The fans will give a huge support to their players and that fact could make a difference. Denmark are coming off a defeat as they lost at Spain. That was the first defeat for Denmark in the competition and I think it won't be the last. Switzerland have excellent players, with Embolo able to make a difference in this match. But not only Embolo, there are other good players - Xhaka and Ndoye.

Switzerland vs Denmark Pick: Switzerland to win @ 2.29 with Pinnacle