England v Germany predictions: Lionesses can make history at Wembley

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for England v Germany in the final of the women's Euro 2022 on Sunday.

Where to watch

BBC One / BBC iPlayer, 5pm Sunday

Best bet

England to lift the trophy
2pts 17-20 Betfair, Power

Team news

England
Keira Walsh went off with cramp against Sweden but should start at Wembley with Sarina Wiegman set to name the same starting line-up for the sixth straight game.

Germany
Winger Klara Buhl was absent for Germany's semi-final with France after testing positive for Covid and will again miss out at Wembley.

Preview

Women's Euro 2022 has inspired, dazzled and delighted and at Wembley on Sunday it concludes with a final between its two standout sides in front of what is set to be a record crowd for a men's or women's European Championship final.

Nearly 90,000 fans are expected to pack into the national stadium to see England take on Germany and that alone is indicative of a hugely successful tournament for women's football.

But a victory for England on Sunday would be a seismic game-changer for the women's game closer to home and bookmakers believe the Lionesses can go the distance, rating them 8-5 favourites to win inside 90 minutes.

That is hardly surprising given they have home advantage and the fact they have gone from strength to strength in the knockout stages.

After digging deep to beat ante-post favourites Spain in extra-time in the quarter-finals, the Lionesses turned on the style against Sweden in the last four, destroying the Olympic silver medalists 4-0 in Sheffield.

One of those games showed the gritty steel of this England team, the other showed the exceptional attacking flair.

But if England have been the best team in the tournament, Germany have been a very close second.

Their high-pressing game has been a joy to watch as has the resurgence of totemic striker Alexandra Popp, who missed Euro 2013 and Euro 2017 through injury but is tied with Beth Mead as the tournament's leading scorer on six goals going into the final.

History is irrelevant ahead of a game of this magnitude but Martina Voss-Tecklenburg will also surely use the fact Germany have won 21 of their 27 matches against England as psychological fuel.

Make no mistake, this will be England's toughest test yet but even if they have to take the game to extra-time, they know how to get the job done.

It will be easy to get distracted by the bigger picture at Wembley, but in Sarina Wiegman England have an immensely pragmatic coach able to ground her players and that could be the decisive factor.

Wiegman led the Netherlands to Euros glory on home soil four years ago and her cool head will prove crucial, as will the wealth of options she has to choose from on the bench.

England were shaky in the opening 25 minutes of their semi-final success over Sweden and are sure to be challenged by an excellent Germany side, but the tournament hosts have the better depth, range of attacking options and manager pulling the strings.

This is the best England side in history and they can cap off a wonderful tournament laden with unforgettable moments by finally bringing it home.

Key stat

Including extra-time, England have won each of their last four contests against teams inside the top ten of Fifa's rankings.

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