Euro 2024: Germany x Denmark, Match Preview, Odds, Team News and Predictions(29/06/2024)

The second of two last-16 matches between hosts Germany and Denmark will take place in the late afternoon at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund on Saturday.

While their Scandinavian opponents took second place in a very forgettable Group C, Julian Nagelsmann's men won Group A to sail into the knockout rounds.

Team news: Germany vs. Denmark

With a one-match ban, Mainz defender Silvan Widmer, who picked up a costly late booking against Germany last weekend, will not play on Saturday night. Having made his summer debut in Frankfurt last week, Monaco marksman Breel Embolo ought to continue leading Switzerland's charge.

Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka will captain Yakin's team and win his 129th international cap here after playing a pivotal role in Bayer Leverkusen's historic Bundesliga triumph last season. Newcastle's Fabian Schar will once again partner Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji at the back.

Riccardo Calafiori, the Bologna defender who received a late red card in Leipzig on Monday night, will not play today due to a one-match ban. Though Mattia Zaccagni of Lazio may have come off the bench and scored that famous last-gasp equalizer against Croatia earlier in the week, the 29-year-old will probably have to make do with another berth among Spalletti's substitutes.

Gianluca Scamacca, the Atalanta forward who was dropped against the Blazers earlier in the week and hasn't opened his EURO 24 account this summer, will be looking for an instant recall. Federico Chiesa of Juventus could also start and replace Giacomo Raspadori.

Head-to-Head and Previous Matches

Germany had already rubber-stamped their knockout spot with just two games gone, putting a combined seven goals past Scotland and Hungary, banishing the ghosts of their previous two World Cup campaigns, which both ended with early group-stage exits.

If Die Mannschaft could just avoid losing to Switzerland on the final day, they would have won the group, but Dan Ndoye's goal threatened to drop Nagelsmann's team to second place.

But on a dramatic late night in Group A, Niclas Fullkrug—who plays at home this weekend—popped up with an injury-time leveler to almost guarantee Germany's place as group winners and save them a last-16 match against Italy, the current champions.

Interestingly, though, Germany's draw with European heavyweights Spain, France, Portugal, and Belgium may suddenly put Switzerland on the easier side of the knockout draw after they won the group and made the last 16 for the fifth time in a row.

Germany, who are still unblemished from their seven games this year—winning five and drawing two—will play Spain or the underdog Georgia in the quarterfinals if they can overcome Denmark.

Speaking of one-point games, England, Slovenia, Serbia, and Denmark were the stalemate specialists in Group C, which produced the joint lowest-scoring men's Euros group in history with just seven goals in six games.

Soon-to-be opponents Germany happened to be a part of the only seven-goal section in history in 2016, and although Denmark did not win any of their group games, Kasper Hjulmand's team was able to secure the silver medal spot thanks to three draws with their three opponents.

With just two goals in Group C (though Morten Hjulmand's rocket against England will undoubtedly go down as a goal-of-the-tournament contender), the Danes have finally made it to the knockout rounds of consecutive Euros for the first time.

Hjulmand knows that his team needs to make quick adjustments if they are to upset the tournament hosts, but they also happen to share Germany's seven-match winning streak in 2024 and have only one loss from their previous 15 games.

But in their last competitive meeting in the 2012 European Championships, Germany defeated Denmark 2-1 in the group stage thanks to Lukasz Podolski and Lars Bender; both friendly matches subsequently ended 1-1.

Our Predictions

Germany to win @1.65 on Sky247.ng

Although Germany's performance in the last group match against Switzerland was far from ideal, Nagelsmann's team could be forgiven for taking it easy because their spot in the last 16 was already guaranteed. We should expect to see a transformed Mannschaft team at Signal Iduna Park.

Denmark has a history of playing close games at Euro 2024, but even a reorganized German defense shouldn't have much issue fending off the frequently pointless attacks from the Scandinavians, and we can only see Nagelsmann's troops walking into the final eight.

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