Germany v Scotland predictions: Hosts to enjoy opening night party

Kick-off time: Friday 14 June, 20:00, Munich

Having endured some poor results in recent major tournaments, hosts Germany should lay down an early marker when they face Scotland in the opening match of the tournament.

Germany have been dumped out of the last two World Cups in the group stage, while they could only reach the round of 16 at Euro 2020 before losing out to England at Wembley.

However, they have the ambitious and highly rated Julian Nagelsmann at the helm this time and will be roared on by passionate home support over the next month.

While the hosts did not need to qualify, they have impressed in friendlies, going unbeaten in four outings since the turn of the year including a 2-0 victory over France and a 2-1 triumph over the Netherlands in March.

In their final two warm-up matches, Die Mannschaft were held to a goalless draw by Ukraine before beating Greece 2-1 and Nagelsmann will hope those two spins have his side primed for an opening night party.

Scotland raised a few eyebrows during qualifying, finishing above Norway and posting an impressive 2-0 win over Spain at Hampden Park last year with Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay playing a starring role as he scored seven goals across the campaign.

However, Steve Clarke's side have struggled after securing qualification, winning just one of their last nine matches in all competitions - against minnows Gibraltar earlier this month - so expectations are low ahead of their Group A opener.

Since qualifying, the Scots have lost 4-0 to the Netherlands and 1-0 to Northern Ireland in friendlies, while they failed to beat Finland in their final warm-up game as they surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2.

While Scotland scored at least two goals in four of their previous six games, they played Georgia, Norway, Gibraltar and Finland during that period, and a clash with the hosts will pose a much tougher test.

Clarke lost Lyndon Dykes to injury before a ball was kicked in Germany, leaving Scotland without their first-choice striker. It's hard to see their attack troubling the hosts so a Germany win to nil catches the eye.

With Clarke expected to deploy a back three, Germany forward Kai Havertz could get plenty of chances to exploit a leaky defence.

The Arsenal man has been given the nod to start up front for Germany this summer and he heads into the tournament in good form having scored five goals in seven games for club and country.

With support from Florian Wirtz, Ilkay Gundogan and Jamal Musiala, Havertz should be able to drop into deeper positions, pick up possession and arrive in the box as a late runner. Scotland's defence will do well to keep him quiet.