Slovakia vs Germany Prediction: Visitors to begin with a bang

Slovakia host Germany at Tehelne Pole on Thursday (19:45 BST, Prime Video) in their first Fifa World Cup qualifier in Group A. Germany will be looking to bounce back from their Uefa Nations League campaign, with the finals played on home soil in June - as they crashed out at the semi-finals to eventual winners Portugal, before losing the third-place play-off against France.

Read on to find out my Slovakia vs Germany predictions, aided by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Lukas Haraslin has been forced to withdraw from the Slovakia squad due to a groin issue, while Wolfsburg defender Denis Vavro is also sidelined after undergoing adductor surgery last month.

Samuel Kozlovsky and Dominik Javorcek are also unavailable due to injury, while Ivan Schranz and Laszlo Benes are both doubtful with stomach problems and they will be monitored before the match.

After experimenting with a back three in the friendly loss to Israel in June, boss Francesco Calzona is expected to revert to a more comfortable 4-3-3 system on Thursday, with 38-year-old free agent Peter Pekarik hoping to earn his 136th cap at right-back.

Stanislav Lobotka, Matus Bero and Stoke City’s Robert Bozenik could also also be named on the team sheet against Germany.

Football Odds

Germany have a lot of injury concerns themselves, with Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Sule, Benjamin Henrichs, Tim Kleindienst and Tom Bischof all unavailable.

Eintracht Frankfurt defender Nnamdi Collins and Mainz 05 midfielder Paul Nebel are both in contention to make their debuts after receiving their first call-ups to Die Mannschaft, while Antonio Rudiger, along with Angelo Stiller, Jamie Leweling and Nadiem Amiri, have been returned to the fold.

Florian Wirtz is set to feature as he awaits to get up and running for his new club Liverpool. Nick Woltemade, who starred for the U21 side at the European Championship in the summer, could lead the line for Julian Nagelsmann's side.

The forward has just completed at £69m move to Newcastle United, so he will want to try and build some momentum ahead of making his Premier League debut.

Slovakia vs Germany Odds

Slovakia are without a win in their last four matches and they are 6/1 to stun Germany in Bratislava.

None of the 11 meetings between the two sides have ended in a draw but the stalemate is marketed at 7/2.

Germany are the 4/9 (which has an implied probability of 69.2%) favourites, having bested the hosts on eight occasions to date.

Over 2.5 goals has been a successful bet in three of the visitors' previous four outings and this is priced at 4/6 on Thursday.

Germany and both teams to score @ 2/1

Germany experienced disappointment as they didn't get close to winning their home Euros last summer, and more home disappointment followed them at the recent Nations League finals.

Nagelsmann and his players will look to build as much momentum as they can in these qualifiers so that they can have a real crack at reclaiming the World Cup, which they lifted 11 years ago.

One thing they need to fix is their defence, because it has looked shaky for a while. The good news for them is that Slovakia have the same problem, but the hosts don't have the resources that their opponents have in attack.

Despite a plethora of injuries, Nagelsmann still has plenty of quality at his disposal and Die Mannschaft should have more than enough to defeat Slovakia in Bratislava. But due to my concerns with Germany's back line, I think we will see the home side grab a consolation goal at the very least.

Nick Woltemade anytime goalscorer @ 8/5

A lot of Newcastle fans are likely going to tune in to this game to witness their new club-record signing first hand. Woltemade has been signed to be their long-term successor to Alexander Isak, who forced through a move to Liverpool.

Woltemade performed well for VfB Stuttgart last term, scoring 17 goals across all competitions - helping them win the DFB-Pokal. The forward then competed at the U21 Euros, where he was the top scorer with six goals in five matches.

He's being trusted to translate his talents onto the senior stage and I do think he can play a key role for his country on Thursday night. Woltemade is about to face a lot of pressure because of his transfer fee and who he is replacing at Newcastle.

The 23-year-old will want to head into his Newcastle career with some momentum, and given his quality, I fancy him to score against this Slovakia side.

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