Match: Germany v Northern Ireland
Date: 11 October, Tuesday
Time: 2:45am SGT (Wednesday)/12:15am IST (Wednesday)/7:45pm BST
Venue: HDI-Arena Stadium, Hanover
Competition: 2018 Fifa World Cup Qualifier
TV Coverage: In Singapore, the TV coverage of the clash between Germany and Northern Ireland will be on Eleven Sports Singapore.
Overview
Germany host Northern Ireland in the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifying fixture at the HDI-Arena Stadium in Hanover on 11 October.
Joachim Low's side have had the perfect start to their qualifying campaign after crushing Norway and Czech Republic by three-goal margins in their previous fixtures. The hosts are thus on top of the Group C table with six points from their two games.
Thomas Mueller has been in red-hot form after scoring a brace in both of their outings so far. Toni Kroos and Joshua Simich have also found their names in the scoresheets. With fixtures lined up against Azerbaijan and San Marino, the defending World Cup champions are looking set to cruise to Russia.
Mario Goetze and Mueller up front are likely to create headaches for the Northern Ireland's defense on Tuesday. Veteran Aaron Hughes might as well have to play a bigger role for his team in Hanover to keep the Germans at bay.
The 20-year-old winger, Julian Brandt, has been impressive in the previous two clashes and would want to impress Low with another good show. Germany's backline has been solid as they have not conceded a single goal in their campaign so far.
With the likes of Mats Hummels and Sami Khedira guarding the back, it will be an uphill task for the visitors on Tuesday to create chances.
Northern Ireland, on the other hand, have had a decent start to their campaign. They held Czech Republic to a 0-0 draw in their opener before decimating San Marino 4-0 to clinch five points from two games.
Michael O'Neill's side would want to take positives from a hard-fought defeat against Germany in their 2016 European Championship group stages earlier this year. The 47-year-old, however, believes that Low's side have shown greater intent after their 3-0 defeat to France in this year's Euro campaign.
"I think the players will be ready based on the fact that they have faced a German team in the Euros who probably hit top gear against us. If you look at their first two games, they're reacting, possibly, to not having won in France," O'Neill was quoted as saying by the BBC.
"We have to be ready for that backlash because I think they've started this campaign in a different mindset than possibly they did for the Euros when they dropped points against teams that I think they wouldn't normally do."
The visitors will be without the services of Wigan Athletic striker Will Grigg, who became a fan favourite at the Euro despite not featuring in the any of the games. However, the visitors will be motivated by the form of Kyle Lafferty, who scored a brace against San Marino.
TV Schedule
Germany: RTL Television
Singapore: Eleven Sports Singapore
Malaysia: Astro SuperSport 4
India: Sony Six
Bangladesh: Sony Six
Bhutan: Sony Six
US: ESPN3 USA
UK: Sky Sports 1
Team News
Germany
Possible XI: Manuel Neuer; Jonas Hector, Mats Hummels, Sami Khedira, Julian Draxler; Tonis Kroos, Thomas Mueller, Jerome Boateng, Mesut Ozil; Joshua Kimmich, Mario Goetze
Northern Ireland
Possible XI: Michael McGovern; Paddy McNair, Shane Ferguson, Gareth McAuley, Jonny Evans; Niall McGinn, Steve Davis, Conor Washington, Oliver Norwood; Jamie Ward, Kyle Lafferty
