Who: Germany vs Netherlands
What: UEFA Nations League, Group A2
Where: Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany
When: Monday at 8:45pm (19:45 GMT)
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up from 16:45 GMT before our live text commentary stream.
Germany and the Netherlands head into the final Group A2 Nations League match hoping to secure their place in the quarterfinals.
Xavi Hernandez’s Netherlands side are practically through – barring a huge swing in goal difference – as they lead the table with 11 points after thrashing Greece 7-0 on Friday.
Jurgen Klopp’s Germany, who beat bottom placed Serbia 3-1 in their last game, know they will likely need a win to progress.
The Germans sit third with eight points, level with second-placed Greece but below them on their head-to-head record, which trumps goal difference as a tiebreaker in this season’s competition. Greece host Serbia, who have yet to win a point.
What happened in Germany’s last game?
Germany cruised to a 3-1 win against Serbia in Belgrade on Friday.
The Germans forced Serbia’s Srdan Babic into an early own goal with Florian Wirtz and Brajan Gruda also scoring.
Babic made up for his blunder with a second-half consolation strike while Serbia finished with nine men after substitutes Vanja Dragojevic and Andrija Zivkovic were sent off late on.
Germany have now won twice, drawn twice and lost once in five games under Klopp.
Wirtz celebrates scoring Germany’s second goal against Serbia [Maja Hitij/Getty Images]
What happened in the last Netherlands game?
Tijjani Reijnders netted a first-half hat-trick as the Netherlands thrashed Greece 7-0.
The Dutch were 5-0 up at the break with Crysencio Summerville putting the hosts ahead in the sixth minute before Reijnders ran riot and Jurrien Timber notched their fifth before half-time.
Timber scored again just before the hour mark with Donyell Malen netting the final goal.
Reijnders scores his team’s second goal against Greece [AFP]
Germany looking forward to ‘final’ against Netherlands, Klopp says
Klopp says his side are happy to have set up a deciding match against the Dutch.
“We wanted to set up a final against the Netherlands in Berlin, and now we have it,” Klopp said.
“We now have the chance to secure qualification for the next round in our own hands. We want to show everyone that German football is in good hands,” he said.
“We have good players, we’re working hard and we want to show in these matches that we’ve learned, that we’ve come together and that we’ve developed as a team. And that was definitely evident [against Serbia].
“The atmosphere in the camp is good, but that brings nothing if nobody can see it on the pitch. Our first job is to show the world that we can play football.”
Predictions
The Opta supercomputer has made Germany the favourites with a win probability of 43.5 percent.
The Netherlands were given a 29.8 percent chance of winning while a draw was estimated at a 26.8 percent likelihood.
Head-to-head
- Previous matches: 49
- German wins: 18
- Draws: 19
- Dutch wins: 12
What happened in their last encounter?
Cody Gakpo volleyed in a stoppage-time equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw for the Netherlands against Germany in their Nations League Group A2 opener on September 24, denying Klopp a winning start to his tenure.
The visitors took a first-half lead with Felix Nmecha slotting in from close range. Karim Adeyemi should have scored another, but he somehow missed the target from 5 metres (5.5 yards) out.
The Dutch upped the pressure after the break and repeatedly came close to an equaliser with Germany’s new number one goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen making several good saves. But their dominance finally paid off with Gakpo’s late strike.
Gakpo scores the equaliser for the Netherlands against Germany [File: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images]
Germany’s team news
Bayern Munich stars Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry are unavailable due to muscle problems, but Germany have no other reported injury concerns.
Predicted starting XI:
Ter Stegen (goalkeeper); Treu, Thiaw, Tah, Mittelstadt; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Gruda, Wirtz, Scherhant; Havertz
Netherlands team news
Frenkie de Jong has returned to Barcelona for treatment after he went off with a back injury during the win over Greece. Teun Koopmeiners looks set to replace him in midfield.
Captain Virgil van Dijk did not join the squad during this international break due to injury, so Tottenham duo Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke are likely to start as centre backs.
Predicted starting XI:
Verbruggen (goalkeeper); Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van de Ven, Timber; Veerman, Koopmeiners; Summerville, Reijnders, Gakpo; Malen
