World Cup 2014: 5 Things We Expect To See In The Quarter Finals

3. A Rocky German Defence

The first Quarter-Final is an all European affair with Germany and France facing off in what is a repeat of a 1982 Semi-final that ended in a penalty shoot-out victory for Germany after a 3-3 draw. We will be lucky to get a game like that

Both of these teams finished top of their respective group but faced sterner tests in the second round. France made it through courtesy of two late goals that saw off a resolute Nigeria side. It took Germany till extra time for them to see of an admirable effort by Algeria.

For all of Germany€™s attacking options in their squad the area they do lack is options at full-back which has resulted in Joachim Löw have a back four filled with centre backs. This has meant that throughout the tournament they have been lacking pace at the back and this was majorly highlighted against Algeria. The North African outfit posed a constant threat to the German backline with the pace of Soudani, Slimani and Fegouli that left Per Mertersacker and Jerome Boateng on edge all night. The only problem was that Algeria lacked the quality in the final ball that was needed to take advantage of this lack of pace.

However France certainly have the quality that Algeria just didn€™t have. In France€™s second round match Deschamps started Arsenal€™s Olivier Giroud up front, forcing talisman Karim Benzema into a less favoured position out on the left wing. For Friday€™s match I expect Les Blues to take advantage of the slow German defence, dropping Giroud and playing Antoine Griezmann on the left allowing Benzema to play in his favoured position in the middle. This will mean the French will have the pace of Benzema, Griezmann and Valbuena to terrorise an already nervy looking back line.