Jürgen Klopp goes into his third match as Germany coach still looking for his first win, and the question around Germany's trip to Serbia is less about the opponent than the team sheet. The current group includes nine players who are yet to be capped at senior level, so Thursday's Germany vs Serbia meeting at the Allianz Arena is already a selection test.

Germany's squad split

Germany have been split across two squads in this four-game international window. One group handled the matches against the Netherlands and Greece, while the second group is now together for Serbia in Munich and Greece in Thessaloniki.

That leaves Klopp with a familiar call for a coach under pressure early in a job. He can lean on the names that stayed from the first squad, or he can throw some of the uncapped players straight into a Nations League match that has real weight for the section.

Noah Atubolu, Finn Dahmen and Nico Schlotterbeck are among the names in the mix, but the bigger point is the size of the untested group. Germany's recent run has been uneven, with one point from two group matches, and Serbia are not arriving in a comfortable spot either.

The young players in contention

The nine uncapped players in the squad are Atubolu, Dahmen, Jonas Urbig, Finn Jeltsch, Mika Baur, Saïd El Mala, Vitaly Janelt, Felix Keidel and Derry Scherhant. That list alone explains why this is a preview built around selection rather than tactics.

There is also a case for keeping some continuity. Nico Schlotterbeck earned a 6.9 rating in Germany's Nations League draw against the Netherlands, while Yannik Engelhardt's 7.17 Bundesliga rating and four league appearances this season give him a different kind of claim. Klopp does not need to tear everything up, but he does need to decide how much trust to place in players who have barely had a senior international minute between them.

The match against Serbia comes with Germany on 1 point from 2 group games and Serbia on 4. That gap makes the selection call more than a ceremonial one, and it is why the balance between experience and debut chances will matter more than any pre-match slogan.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →