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After both winning their opening group games, Chile will face Germany in a Confederations Cup clash, with the winner of the game almost certain to top the group and head into the knockout stages.
With Germany naming a weakened squad for the competition, Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi has been put at the heart of the countries defence and on Thursday night he will have to battle with Alexis Sanchez in a duel that will surely have a huge impact on the outcome of the game.
Alexis was a substitute in Chile’s first game against Cameroon but he came off the bench to set up both of his teams goals in a 2-0 victory. This highlighted his importance to the Chile attack and the manager will more than likely opt to start with the Arsenal man for this big game.
Mustafi and Germany made hard work of overcoming Australia in what ended as a 3-2 win for the World Champions.
On paper it looks like it will be a close game and the odds reflect that - Chile vs. Germany betting odds.
Whilst you’d back a full strength Germany to win the game, they do have a somewhat second-string side at the tournament, on the contrary, Chile have brought their star players including Alexis and Arturo Vidal.
For me, I think Alexis will prove to be the difference in the game, and considering it will be a fixture that will be watched worldwide, he will be keen to show the world what he can do, with his contract situation currently up in the air.
With the likes of Bayern Munich, PSG and possibly Juventus reportedly interested in signing the Chilean, could a top performance in this game see one of those clubs stump up the amount of money needed to see him leave Arsenal?
Another player that is worth looking out for in this fixture, is Germany’s Leon Goretzka. The young midfielder is attracting interest from several top European clubs and even Arsenal have been mooted as a potential destination. He scored in the opening game of the tournament but his ability to control the midfield is what he is known best for. He is quite a physical player for his age and that is arguably something that Arsenal need to add to their midfield.
There’s no doubt that there will be some scouts in the crowd for this fixture, watching Goretzka amongst others. There is plenty of talent on show and with all the big clubs in Europe looking to improve this summer, expect to see some players playing for moves and new contracts.
