The second semi-final of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup will take place on Thursday evening and will be contested by Germany and Mexico. The match will be played in the Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi. The Germans qualified for the Confederations Cup thanks to their success in the 2014 World Cup, defeating Argentina in the final. They also inflicted an embarrassing defeat on the home nation Brazil during the tournament. Mexico claimed their spot in the Confederations Cup by defeating the United States in the in the 2015 CONCACAF Cup play-off match.
Germany Form
Joachim Low named an experimental squad for this event but so far it has worked out well for the Germany manager.
Drawn in Group B along with Chile, Cameroon and Australia, the Germans were favourites to progress as group winners and they did not disappoint.
However, their opening match against Australia was tougher than expected and the game ended 3-2 in favour of Germany, thanks to goals from Lars Stindl, Julian Draxler and Leon Goretzka. The second match was always going to be the toughest and Germany came back from a goal down to claim a 1-1 draw with Chile.
The third game of the group was against Cameroon and despite the African nation pulling a goal back with 12 minutes remaining on the clock, Germany won the game 3-1 and sealed their place in the Confederations Cup semi-final as group winners.
Mexico Form
Mexico knew they were in a fight with Portugal and host nation Russia for a place in the Confederations Cup semi-final.
Having come back twice to take a point against Portugal in the first match of the group, Mexico were in a strong position. The 2-1 victory over New Zealand was tougher than expected but with 4 points on the board going into the final match against Russia, Mexico knew a point would probably be enough.
Having gone a goal down, Mexico reacted well and came back to win the match 2-1 and this was enough to seal second place in Group A and a place in the semi-final of the tournament.
Team News
Germany have no injury or suspension worries ahead of this match. Joachim Loew will have some idea of his strongest XI and is set to partner Julian Draxler and Leon Goretzka behind either Lars Stindl or Timo Werner in attack.
Unfortunately for Mexico, they will be without Andres Guardado in midfield, who is suspended. Defender Carlos Salcedo is injured and Chicharito, Hector Moreno and Diego Reyes are all doubtful.
Top Betting Tips
Given the players who are missing for Mexico, plus the potential loss of three other key men, Germany must come into this match as favourites. You can get 21/20 with Ladbrokes for Germany to win this match.
Mexico have scored 2 goals in all three of their matches in this tournament and Germany have looked less than comfortable at the back. In fact, 3 of the 4 goals conceded by Germany have come because of poor goalkeeping. Even if Mexico fail to win the game, they could score and you can get 3/1 with William Hill for Germany to win and both teams to score.
Having conceded goals to New Zealand and Russia, the German forwards will see this game as the perfect opportunity to add to their international tally. Expect Germany to score a few goals in this game and over 3.5 goals is on offer at 9/4 with Ladbrokes.