Estonia vs Germany: Lineups, team news, updates on Gündogan und Timo Werner, and more!

Jogi Löw gave national team debuts to four brand-new call-ups in Germany’s friendly 2-2 draw against Argentina, but he will have at least a few of his veterans back at his disposal for the second round with Estonia in Germany’s Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.

Team news

The good news is that both Timo Werner and Ilkay Gündogan appear to be fit to play. Gündogan had been dealing with muscular issues in Dortmund, while Werner had flu-like symptoms. They both returned to training on Friday before the team departed to Talinn.

But Germany’s back line remains a major problem. Most of the ten players out injured happen to be defenders, including Matthias Ginter, Antonio Rüdiger, Thilo Kehrer, Jonas Hector, and Nico Schulz. That means that Bayern Munich’s own Niklas Süle will be forced to team up yet again with some inexperienced partners. Against Argentina, Juventus Turin’s Emre Can filled next to Süle and SC Freiburg’s Robin Koch. At least one of them will play again against Estonia.

Team manager Oliver Bierhoff remains undeterred. He said before the match,

The goal is not to let any doubts at all arise. We should make clear from the very first second that there actually will be only one result and collect these three points.

Löw has several options in midfield and attack. Joshua Kimmich will presumably start in the midfield. He could theoretically be paired with Ilkay Gündogan or perhaps Sebastian Rudy, who has been called up for the first time since the World Cup in Russia. On attack, Löw could give Kai Havertz a start, or he could go with his regulars Timo Werner and Marco Reus. Julian Brandt is also an option.

Predicted lineups

Germany crushed Estonia 8-0 when they first met in June, so we anticipate a high-powered offensive lineup the second time around, injuries or not. We asked members of BFW to guess how Löw might line up Germany. Here are our predictions:

Fergus25:

Daniel Zeisset:

John Dillon: