Wednesday Football Tips: Germany to Popp up with a goal

Germany v France
Wednesday 27 July
20:00 BST kick-off, Live on BBC

Two big hitters collide on Wednesday with Germany and France battling it out for a place in the final of Euro 2022.

It could be a men's World Cup battle from yesteryear, but it's the women's teams of today looking to etch their names into history.

Germany have looked just how you'd expect a German side to look, strolling through the tournament without even conceding a goal after four games.

They only finished off Denmark late on, but bossed that game generally, while France needed an extra time penalty to send holders Netherlands packing.

By contrast, that was the first clean sheet of the tournament for the French, who have all the talent in the world but their unpredictable nature means they go into this semi-final as slight underdogs.

This should be a tight, close game - they've traded 1-0 wins in their last two head-to-heads after they'd both enjoyed convincing wins (4-0 & 3-0) but most other games have been close.

The 90-minute draw, at 3.39/4 stands out as it's hard to see them going for the jugular given what's a stake - of course an early goal could change all that and with the talent on show and shootout would be tremendous.

There's not enough confidence in any of the match result though, so we'll take the under 2.5 goals as they'll likely play their cards close to their chests for large parts.

If there is to be a goal, then German veteran Alexandra Popp is the player to side with - as she's scored in every game in this tournament so far.

France will know that, but there are other dangerous options in the German side and Popp has a habit of still, somehow, finding that one chance.

A goal is more likely than an assist, but she did lay on three goals in five games in qualifying so is capable, and we don't lose too much to add extra cover.