GERMANY as usual go into the finals with aspirations of winning and they're likely to be semi-finalists at least.
The biggest surprise when coach Joachim Low announced his squad was the omission of Man City starlet Leroy Sane.
He's a had a superb season and his absence shows how much quality Low has in his midfield.
Skipper Manuel Neuer will be back between the sticks after proving the fitness and that's a boost.
Goals might not come as freely as usual but Thomas Muller scored 10 goals in the last two World Cup finals and is always a threat on big occasions.
RB Leipzig's Timo Werner is the future and is set to lead the line for the defending champions. Werner has seven goals in his last nine internationals.
Germany will be there or thereabouts and should easily win a group including Mexico, Sweden and South Korea. They are 4-9 at Ladbrokes and 1-2 at Ladbrokes to win their crucial opener against the Mexicans.
Mexico are ranked 15th in the world but lost 4-1 Germany at last year's Confederations Cup and we saw in the recent friendly with Scotland how comfortable they are on the ball but maybe lacking something up top.
It should be between them and Sweden for second spot. With Zlatan Ibrahmovic not around the Swedes don't have any stars but are solid bunch who'll be hard to break down.
South Korea have some exciting players including Spurs striker Son Heung-min, Swansea's Ki Sung-yeung and the best home-based player Lee Jae-Sung.
Son will be the key to how they perform and needs to take his shooting boots to Russia. I'm taking Sweden to edge out Mexico and qualify at 6-4 with BetStars and South Korea to finish bottom at 5-6 with BlackType.
Recommended Bets
- Germany to win Group F
- Germany to beat Mexico
- Sweden to qualify
- South Korea to finish bottom
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