Germany v Ghana – Black Stars Rise

Germany recorded one of the most emphatic wins of the opening round and can book their place in the last 16 with a win here.

Form
Germany were emphatic in their opening round win against Portugal in a match that was supposed to be one of the most closely contested of the entire group stages between teams ranked number 2 and 4 by Fifa. Although they were aided slightly by Pepe’s sending off on 37 minutes, the Germans were in complete control of the game long before that point.

Thomas Müller converted from the penalty spot on 12 minutes to give his team the lead, Mats Hummels doubled that lead just after the half hour mark and then Müller would go on to add another two to complete his hat-trick and a 4-0 win.

As good as Germany were, it’s worth noting that Portugal were equally poor. And like we have seen with Holland, it’s important that we don’t get too carried away on the back of one, albeit very good, display.

Ghana, meanwhile, disappointed in their opening match losing 2-1 to USA in a performance littered with defensive mishaps. Clint Dempsey caught the Ghanaian defenders sleeping and gave the Americans the lead within the first 60 seconds, and they were punished again just minutes after Andre Ayew had equalised when John Brooks got the winner.

Team News
Bastian Schweinsteiger was airlifted to hospital for a precautionary scan prior to Germany’s win over Portugal. Manager Joachim Löw insisted that it was routine but the Bayern Munich midfielder was an unused substitute in the game prompting speculation that it was something a bit more serious.

In terms of injuries Ghana appeared to come through their opening game unscathed, but Kweshi Appiah may be tempted to shuffle his pack following the disappointing performance.

Head-to-Head
Germany won 1-0 when the two nations met at the group stages of the 2010 World Cup, with both teams going on to qualify for the knockout stages. Mesut Özil scored the only goal of the game on that day. The only previous meeting, way back in 1993, resulted in a 6-1 win for Germany.

Recommended Bets
Germany are understandably short priced favourites, but at odds of 2/7 I won’t be advising a bet on die Nationalmannschaft. Although I expect them to take all three points I don’t think it will be quite as emphatic as the win over Portugal and there is some value in backing the Black Stars to keep it tight by siding with the Ghana +2 selection at odds of 20/21 in the Handicap market.

Thomas Müller took an early lead in the Golden Boot race, but now looks underpriced at odds of 8/11 to score anytime here. One to avoid.

Goals in general look overpriced on the back of what has been a frantic start to the World Cup. It may not be the most popular of bets, but Under 2.5 goals at odds of 11/8 is good value.