Stadium: Laugardalsvoellur (Reykjavik).
The Icelandic footballers have never beaten Germany before in their history. Will Arnar Vidarsson’s men be able to cause a sensation now? We predict that the Germans will not let the Vikings get away with it again!
Iceland
The Icelandic national team continues to go downhill. Their best years in history are gradually being left behind, and now the Vikings are back in the role of the average European qualifiers without any real chance of making it to the final part of the world and continental championships. They failed to qualify for Euro 2020, and their qualifier for the 2022 World Cup saw them score just one win in their opening five rounds - 4-1 against Liechtenstein. Once again, the Icelandic side has only lost 2-2 to northern Macedonia, with Germany, Armenia, and Romania all losing by a combined score of 0-7, relegating them to fifth place in Group J.
Germany
The German national team had great difficulties finishing the Joachim Löw era. They managed only one win at UEFA EURO 2020 and had already crashed out 0-2 against England in the last 16. In the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, two successive victories over Iceland and Romania, 3-0 and 1-0 respectively, were followed by a surprising 1-2 defeat at the hands of Northern Macedonia. Hans-Dieter Flick has been in charge of the Germans since the September games. His team played surprisingly hard against Liechtenstein in the first leg, settling for a modest 2-0 win, but then they crushed Armenia 6-0 to regain the top spot in Group J.
History of head-to-head encounters between Iceland and Germany
Iceland and Germany have played five head-to-head games to date. The Germans have four wins and a draw. The goal difference is also on the side of the guests in the upcoming encounter - 14:1. The last time the opponents met was on 25 March this year. In the first round of FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying, the German national side claimed a 3-0 win.
Expert Betting Tips
The German national team scored surprisingly little against Liechtenstein in their opening game under Hans-Dieter Flick, although they kept the ball for 90 minutes. The game with Armenia saw the Germans concede six goals to Armenia, and they could have scored many more. They are gradually finding their game, so it will be challenging for the Icelanders to defend in the upcoming match. Moreover, in their previous five head-to-head encounters, the Vikings have conceded 14 goals (2.80 goals per game on average) from the Germans. Therefore, Individual Total 2 Over 2.5 goals at odds close to 1.87 seems the best option for our prediction.
It is no secret that Germany is a much more powerful team than Iceland. All that has allowed the Vikings to count on success in past years is incredible spirit and luck. These factors have not worked for the Icelanders for a long time now, so their results have gone down dramatically. On the other hand, the Germans have been playing energetically ever since the change of the team’s manager. And Hansi Flik, who previously worked with Bayern, made it clear that he would not be kind to inferior opponents. As a result, we suggest betting on the German national team victory with a handicap (-2.5) for 2.58.
Timo Werner has been very down in terms of performance since leaving Leipzig for Chelsea. If in his last season in the Bundesliga, he scored 28 goals in 34 games, in the opening campaign in England, he scored only six goals in 35 games, and the two meetings of the current season in the EPL did not distinguish himself even once. It is unlikely that the situation will change soon since the Londoners now have Romelu Lukaku. The German national side is another matter, with Hansi Flick giving him 90 minutes on both occasions and the 25-year-old forward scoring a goal in both games. In such a situation, a bet on Timo Werner’s goal at odds of around 2.05 is worth looking into.
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