Germany vs Armenia

Germany will be looking to reclaim a top spot in the 2022 World Cup qualifying Group J when they meet Armenia at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Hansi Flick’s adventure in the German dugout started with a comfortable 2-0 away triumph over minnows Liechtenstein. ‘Die Mannschaft’ have got their World Cup qualifying campaign back on track following a disappointing 2-1 loss to North Macedonia in their most recent home World Cup qualifier. That reverse stands for Germany’s solitary defeat in home World Cup qualifiers over the past 20 years (W15, D3). A victory here would fire Germany back to the top of Group J. Having won each of their three previous meetings with visiting Armenia by a 4+ goal margin, that scenario looks very likely. Adding to their confidence, the four-time World Cup winners had gone unbeaten in nine straight home fixtures (W5, D4) before losing to North Macedonia. Moreover, they have since avoided defeat in both internationals on home turf (W1, D1), including a 7-1 hammering of Latvia last time out.

In the meantime, the Armenians head into proceedings as unexpected Group J leaders after going unbeaten in their opening four 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Though a scoreless draw away to Macedonia halted their three-match winning start to this World Cup qualifying campaign, it marked Armenia’s third clean sheet in four Group J fixtures. But after failing to beat a top-20 ranked nation since 2013, the visitors are overwhelming outsiders here. Joaquin Caparros’ side can at least fall back on a solid recent away from as they’ve avoided defeat in their last four competitive international travels (W2, D2) despite scoring under 1.5 goals on three occasions in that sequence. By extension, they’ve netted 2+ goals just twice across their previous 22 competitive away matches (W4, D5, L13).