Germany v Serbia, Friday 18th June, 12.30pm
The Serbians were warm favourites to win their opening match against Ghana but offered little going forward and seemed content with a draw in Pretoria. They were denied that point after conceding a late penalty and Radomir Antic’s team have a job on their hands if they are now to make it to the last sixteen.
Indeed, only victory might be enough against a Germany team that were rampant against Australia. Sky Bet are prepared to offer 11/2 that Serbia pull off victory at the Nelson Mandela Stadium and they will have to show plenty of improvement if they are to manage this. It’s all very well having a stout defence, although they offered little going forward and there will be those that fancy the Germans to either keep a clean sheet (11/10 Paddy Power) or win to nil (6/4 Paddy Power).
Although it’s important not to get carried away, Joachim Loew’s team were impressive when thrashing the Aussies 4-0, producing the best performance of the World Cup to date. They are no bigger than 8/13 (Coral) to win this match in Port Elizabeth and effectively book their place in the last sixteen of the competition. England will simply be hoping that they can avoid their old foes in the next round.
Loew has a plethora of strikers from which to select, although it was the old guard of Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski who saw off the Socceroos with a couple of first-half goals. Klose is 9/2 (Ladbrokes) to open the scoring, while his strike partner is on offer at 11/2 (William Hill) and does possess a hammer shot. Marko Pantelic is probably the biggest danger man for the Serbs and can be backed at odds of 11/1 (bet365).