2014 WORLD CUP SOCCER

GERMANY

vs. ALGERIA

Line:
Germany -400, Algeria +1000, Tie after Regulation +500
Over/Under: 3.5 Goals (Over +150, Under -181)

Group G champion Germany hopes to breeze past heavy underdog Algeria when the two nations meet in Monday's Round of 16 match.

Germany started off its World Cup with 4-0 victory against Portugal, but have been a bit shaky since that opener. After a 2-2 draw with heavy underdog Ghana, they barely topped the United States by a 1-0 score. After losing a late lead in a 2-1 defeat to Belgium in its World Cup opener, Algeria stormed back for a 4-2 victory over South Korea to pick up a crucial three points. A 1-1 draw with Russia assured them a spot in the knockout round.

Thomas Muller has four of the seven Germany goals in this tournament, giving him nine goals in nine career World Cup matches. His tally in the 55th minute on Thursday propelled his country into this knockout round. Mats Hummels, Mario Gotze and Miroslav Klose have the other tallies for the Germans, with Klose's tally marking his 15th career World Cup goal, which ties Ronaldo for the all-time record. It won't be easy for this squad to get great chances against what will be a defensive-minded opponent though. Germany has held possession advantages in all three of their matches, with 59% versus Portugal, 54% facing Ghana and a whopping 63% possession time versus the Americans. For the tournament, they hold a 14-11 edge in corner kicks on their opponents. But after Germany was outshot by a hefty 34-24 margin (19-15 in shots on goal) in the first two matches in the World Cup, they fired 13 shots (9 on goal) in their last contest, while holding their USA opponent to four total shots (1 on goal). The players tasked with feeding goal-scoring stars Muller and Klose are midfielders Toni Kroos -- who has completed 94 percent of his passes in the World Cup -- Mesut Ozi and Lukas Podolski. Germany has allowed only two goals in two matches thanks to the stellar play of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, but there have been some defensive breakdowns with midfielder Philipp Lahm and left back Benedikt Howedes the main culprits.

Algeria failed to score a goal in the entire 2010 World Cup, but coach Vahid Halilhodzic's club already has six tallies in its first three matches in this tournament thanks to a more talented roster and a more creative and versatile attack mode that has pushed the tempo on the counter, through crosses and have also improved on set pieces. However, this Algeria team will probably not press the issue too much and would love to settle for a 0-0 draw to take their chances in penalty kicks after extra time. Goalkeeper Adi Mbolhi is athletic enough to make the tough saves needed to survive. The team's penalty-kick goal by midfielder Sofiane Feghouli was its only shot on goal versus Belgium in a match where they attempted just three total shots, but was much more aggressive against South Korea and Russia with 23 total shots, 14 shots on goal, and five shots in net by four different players (2 goals by forward Islam Slimani and 1 goal each for defenseman Rafik Halliche and midfielders Abdelmoumene Djabou and Yacine Brahimi). The attacking Slimani will need to take advantage of a somewhat suspect German defense to give his club any chance at pulling off the gargantuan upset. After being dominated in possession by Belgium (65% to 35%), Algeria held the ball 46% of the time versus South Korea and 47% of the match versus Russia. Algeria has been very physical in this tournament with 49 fouls, and have picked up five yellow cards with midfielder Nabil Bentaleb in the opener, defender Madjid Bougherra in the second match and three players (defender Djamel Mesbah, forward Nabil Ghilas and defender Liassine Cadamuro) booked in the most recent contest.