Germany vs Armenia Pre-World Cup friendly match will take place at the Coface Arena, Mainz on Friday, June 6, 2014 (11:45 AM PST).
Although the German side are one of the favourites to lift the World Cup, they have not had the best of preparations heading into the tournament.
A dull 0-0 stalemate against Poland was followed by a disappointing 2-2 draw against Cameroon recently, and such insipid performances from the Germans have raised a few question marks as to whether they are as formidable as people make them out to be.
In all fairness though, manager Joachim Loew has made quite a few changes to his side and it could be a valid reason for their failures in the past two games.
However, in Germany’s final preparation game against Armenia, a good result is a must and anything else than a convincing victory will seriously affect Loew’s side’s confidence heading into the World Cup.
Minnows Armenia showed signs of vast improvement after picking up four victories in their World Cup qualification campaign. However, it was not enough to secure a place in Brazil. Nonetheless, the Armenian side are certainly taking rapid strides forward.
Up against a very strong Germany side on Friday, Armenia will be surely not be looking to give their much illustrious opponents an easy ride and a good performance against the European powerhouse will surely give the tiny nation a great sense of confidence that they can mix it up with the big boys.
Teams
Germany
Joachim Loew fielded a strong side against Cameroon and is expected to do the same against Armenia as well.
Manuel Neuer is still not fully fit which means that Roman Weidenfeller will continue in goal, while the defence should consist of Jerome Boateng, Per Mertesacker and Mats Hummels. Captain Philipp Lahm is also expected to feature after recovering from injury and he could take the place of young Erik Drum in the starting lineup.
The midfield will most probably consist of Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil and Marco Reus but the likes of Lukas Podolski and Andre Schurrle made a good impression after coming on against Cameroon, and the duo will be in contention. Star midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is also expected to feature in some capacity.
Mario Gotze was the surprising choice to lead the line for Germany last time out but Loew could elect to go with a more traditional forward in the form of Miroslav Klose or even Lukas Podolski against Armenia.
Armenia
Armenia lost out 3-1 to Algeria in their last friendly clash and manager Bernard Challandes could be tempted to make a couple of changes.
Captain Roman Berezovsky will start in goal while Alex Henrique, Hrayr Mkoyan, Robert Arzumanyan and Levon Hayrapetyan should complete the back four.
Star man Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be starting in midfield and will be supported by the likes of Gevorg Ghazaryan, Rumyan Hovsepyan and Aslanyan-Mamedov.
Experienced striker Edgar Manucharyan should start in attack and he will either be partnered by Yura Movsisyan or Artur Sarkisov.
Probable Lineups
Germany (Probable XI): Weidenfeller; Boateng, Mertesacker, Hummels, Lahm; Muller, Ozil, Khedira, Kroos, Schurrle; Podolski
Armenia (Probable XI): Berezovsky; Henrique, Mkoyan, Arzumanyan, Hayrapetyan; Ghazaryan, Hovsepyan, Aslanyan-Mamedov, Mkhitaryan; Manucharyan, Sarkisov
Form
Germany: D W W D D
Armenia: W D L W L
Germany vs Armenia Prediction
Although the match is only a friendly, it is of vital importance for the Germans to pick up a victory, a convincing one at that, against Armenia heading into the World Cup.
While Germany’s talent in the squad cannot be undermined, they certainly need to get some momentum going before they face Portugal.
Armenia on the other hand, will be hoping to earn a major scalp by securing a good result against the Germans and considering their decent squad, it is well within the realms of possibility.
That being said, Germany are simply too strong for the Armenians and should claim a comfortable victory.
Germany 2 – 0 Armenia
Germany vs Armenia Television
The Germany vs Armenia match will be televised in the USA on ESPN3 and Univision Deportes at 11:45 AM Pacific on Friday.
