Germany are the new favourites to win the Confederations Cup after breezing through their group and earning a favourable semi-final draw against a Mexico. They finished ahead of Chile and with two wins and a draw and have been sensational going forwards, more than making up for their defensive lapses. Mexico will provide stern opposition after also taking seven points from the group stage. They were unlucky not to top their group as they finished behind Portugal on goal difference, but they are also full of dynamism and pace in attack.
Both teams leave gaps at the back and neither has kept a clean sheet so far in this tournament, so both teams to score looks a great bet. 10Bet has the best odds in this market, offering a very strong 14/19. You would expect someone to win it in normal time, so over 2.5 goals also looks good at 17/10 with Bet365 and 7/8 with 188Bet. You can therefore double up and get a very attractive 23/20 at Coral on both teams to score and over 2.5 goals. Between them they have played six games in this tournament: all six have seen both teams score and five of six have seen over 2.5 goals. The only game that did not see over 2.5 goals was Germany’s 1-1 draw with Chile, and Chile are far stronger defensively than Mexico.
This should be a great game for the neutrals, with lots of exciting attacking football, some gung-ho approach play and plenty of gaps at the back to exploit. These have been the two most exciting attacking teams so far, along with Portugal, and it would be a huge disappointment if they were to let us down now and not serve up over 2.5 goals between them.
Both sides are good, but Germany look the better team overall and should win this. That is despite Germany leaving out several key players for this competition and fielding an experimental squad full of youngsters that are barely tested at international level. The players that have travelled to Russia for the Confederations Cup have acquitted themselves superbly and many have staked a claim for a place on the plane back to Russia for next summer’s World Cup. It is easy to see why Germany are favourites to win the Jules Rimet trophy for the second time in a row. They have a great goalkeeper and strong defence and many talented midfielders. They need a striker, however, and Timo Werner has excelled in the Confederations Cup, as has Lars Stindl. Joshua Kimmich and Julian Draxler have been magnificent, and there is so much strength in depth for this Germany side.
Over the course of 90 minutes you would fancy them to get the better of Mexico. Juan Carlos Osorio’s men have played with verve and vigour going forwards and will be a threat, but player for player Germany have superior quality. Mexico also have a habit of doing well in the group stages and then struggling in the knockout rounds of tournaments. They took seven points in the last World Cup only to be eliminated in the last 16 by the Netherlands, and earned seven points once more in Copa America 2016, only to be thrashed 7-0 by Chile in their first knockout game. They will be desperate to end that run, but Germany is a formidable opponent and a Germany win remains the most probable outcome. Bet365, Paddy Power and various others are offering 2.10 on this and that looks a good bet right now. If you are feeling more cautious, Germany to qualify is 1.55 with 10Bet, and if you are feeling more gung-ho, Germany to win and over 2.5 goals is 3.40 with green listed bookmaker BetVictor.