Germany's scoring woes put Nations League tie with Netherlands at risk

Ahead of the Nations League‑duel with the Netherlands, Germany under Jürgen Klopp is grappling with a scoring problem: in the run‑up the national team has yet to score a goal from a striker, while 76 attempts in recent matches have yielded only three hits.

At least, that is the conclusion of the German broadcaster Sportschau.

‘Germany lacks efficiency’, writes Sportschau.

‘It could also be much more sensational: “Klopp worse than Schalke.”’

On average, Germany needs about 25 attempts to score one goal.

For comparison, Schalke 04 scored only five times in nine Bundesliga‑duels, but needed an average of nineteen attempts per goal.

In September, during his debut as national coach, Felix Nmecha scored the only German goal against the Oranje in a 1‑1 draw.

The other two goals came from Tom Bischof and Florian Wirtz in the 2‑0 victory over Serbia.

Who should score the goals?

‘From such figures the question often follows who should then score the goals. In Germany that is currently fairly easy to answer: Füllkrug.’

The striker of Werder Bremen, Niclas Füllkrug, leads the Bundesliga‑top‑scorers with nine goals.

Nevertheless, Sportschau expects Kai Havertz to start against Serbia next Friday instead of Füllkrug.

Seven of his fourteen international goals have been scored by Füllkrug as a substitute.

‘In terms of playing style Füllkrug does not exactly fit the national coach’, notes the broadcaster.

‘But anyone who knows where the goal is and still hits it can belong in any team, even as a substitute,’ adds the broadcaster.

For his nine Bundesliga goals Füllkrug needed 32 attempts.

‘It is, of course, just a calculation’, says data provider Sportec Solutions.

If Füllkrug had taken all 76 German attempts, Germany would end up with 21 goals at the current conversion rate.