Favourites to win their qualifying group and reach World Cup 2026 automatically, Germany's first Group A outing ended with a chastening defeat in Slovakia, so Bundestrainer Julian Nagelsmann will surely make changes for Sunday's game against Northern Ireland.
For just the fourth time ever, Germany were beaten in a World Cup qualifier, heaping more pressure on the hosts this weekend, when David Raum, Nadiem Amiri, Pascal Gross and several others will all hope for promotion from the bench.
Eintracht Frankfurt defender Nnamdi Collins endured an international debut to forget on Thursday evening, so if Nagelsmann sticks with a back four, either captain Joshua Kimmich will revert to right-back or the left-sided Raum will fill in on that flank. Should Kimmich reluctantly return to his less favoured position, Gross or Leon Goretzka would probably be required to deputise in midfield.
Meanwhile, up front, Newcastle United's recent record signing Nick Woltemade failed to make an impact in midweek, so he must hold off the challenge of West Ham United striker Niclas Fullkrug.
Liverpool's Florian Wirtz and Serge Gnabry of Bayern Munich are likely to keep their places, but Karim Adeyemi, Jamie Leweling, in-form Mainz attacker Amiri and new call-up Paul Nebel are all fresh options in the final third.
Germany may still have plenty of talent to choose from, but Nagelsmann is missing several injured players this month; among them are regular starters Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
In the latter's continued absence, Oliver Baumann has been named Germany's number one, so the 35-year-old is set to earn his sixth international cap, ahead of 20-somethings Alexander Nubel and Finn Dahmen.
Germany possible starting lineup: Baumann; Raum, Tah, Rudiger, Mittelstadt; Kimmich, Gross; Adeyemi, Wirtz, Gnabry; Woltemade
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