Preview: Germany vs. Latvia - prediction, team news, lineups

Germany host Latvia at Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf on Monday in an international friendly ahead of their Euro 2020 campaign beginning against France eight days later.

Latvia, meanwhile, set up a decider against Estonia to determine who will lift the Baltic Cup after beating neighbours Lithuania 3-1 on Friday.

Match preview

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Germany played a friendly during the week themselves, drawing 1-1 at home to Denmark on Wednesday.

Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Florian Neuhaus scored only his second international goal to break the deadlock three minutes after half time, before RB Leipzig forward Yussuf Poulsen snatched a share of the spoils for the Danes 12 minutes from time.

Joachim Low, who will depart the Germany dugout at the end of this summer's major tournament after 15 years in charge of the national team, will have been reasonably encouraged by his side's performance, having restricted Denmark to only one shot on target across the 90 minutes.

The 61-year-old reintroduced Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller into his starting XI in a false nine role, with Muller's club teammates Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry making penetrative runs beyond him. Low will hope to build on this formula with a convincing victory against the Latvians on Monday.

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Latvia once famously drew 0-0 against Germany at their only ever major tournament appearance during Euro 2004, but they have fallen a long way down the international pecking order since then.

Led by Dainis Kazakevics, who coached Latvia's Under-21s between 2013 and 2020, 11 Vilki currently find themselves 138th in the FIFA rankings, with only six nations from UEFA ranking lower than them.

However, after a 3-1 win against Lithuania on Friday, Kazakevics has the chance to secure a minor form of glory by beating Estonia on Thursday to retain the Baltic Cup. This would be Latvia's 14th triumph in the unofficial tournament in their history, which would put them four ahead of Lithuania.

As such, Monday's friendly against Germany may be seen as a slight inconvenience, but a decent chance of testing themselves against one of Europe's strongest countries all the same.

Team News

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Germany will welcome back Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Antonio Rudiger and Ilkay Gundogan to their squad after the quartet were provided with a week's rest after being involved in the Champions League final last weekend.

Muller should reprise his role up front, but Toni Kroos, Leon Goretzka and Jamal Musiala remain injury doubts and are unlikely to be risked ahead of Euro 2020.

Latvia, meanwhile, remain without Pavels Steinbors, Kristers Tobers and Daniels Ontuzans due to club exertions.

Ontuzans, who turned 21 in March, will leave Bayern in the summer after an 11-year stay in Bavaria.

Germany possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Sule, Rudiger, Hummels, Gunter; Neuhaus, Kimmich, Gundogan; Havertz, Muller, Werner

Latvia possible starting lineup:
Ozols; Savalnieks, Cernomordijs, Oss, Jurkovskis; Emsis, Zjuzins; Kamess, Ikaunieks, Ciganiks; Uldrikis

We say: Germany 3-0 Latvia

While Germany have their fair share of tactical and personnel problems heading into Euro 2020, they should be able to rack up a morale-boosting victory against Latvia on Monday.

Kazakevics and his players are likely to have one eye on Thursday's Baltic Cup showdown against Estonia, potentially allowing the Germans to rack up a few goals with their Premier League contingency back in the fold.