Germany start their 2014 World Cup preparations with a friendly against Poland at Hamburg’s Imtech Arena, with quite a few star players missing for the hosts.

The White Eagles, on the other hand, are thinking about Euro 2016 qualifiers, and the match against one of Europe’s top sides will do them a world of good.

Having once again impressed in the qualifying campaign, Germany will be keen to finally realise their potential and end an 18-year wait for a major title.

Die Manschaft have now finished in top 3 at last four tournament finals, but they will be looking to try and lift the trophy in Brazil.

Joachim Low has sprung some surprises when naming his provisional 30-man squad, leaving the likes of Mario Gomez out and handing a call-up to Kevin Volland and Leon Goretzka.

And the Poland game will serve as a perfect opportunity for the boss to test his low-profile players, with most star footballers out.

Players from Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Arsenal will miss the Tuesday’s fixture due to their club commitments, whilst Miroslav Klose and and Andre Schurrle are also unavailable.

But, even with that in mind, it is hardly surprising Germany have been made 1.40 (2/5) favourites to see off their less illustrious opponents.

Lars Bender is likely to miss out with a muscle problem, whilst Barcelona-bound Marc-Andre ter Stegen looks set to start between the sticks.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): ter Stegen – Howedes, Ginter, Mustafi, Jansen – Goretzka, Khedira – Hahn, Meyer, Draxler – Volland.

Having failed to get past the group stage at the Euro 2012, Poland continued with under-par performances and they were never even close to qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.

The national team changed quite a few coaches in these past few years, with Adam Nawalka taking over the reigns after the unsuccessful qualifying campaign.

The team have since won two, drawn one and lost two international friendlies, which is hardly an impressive result considering four of those matches were played on home soil.

Adam Nawalka, too, will be without some of his best players as the likes of Szczesny, Fabianski, Lewandowski, Blaszczykowski and Piszczek are all unavailable.

Brazilian-born defender Thiago Cionek has received his first call-up, whereas Legia midfielder Michal Zyro is the only other uncapped player in the squad.

Probable starting line-up (4-1-4-1): Boruc – Olkowski, Szukala, Thiago, Wawrzyniak – Krychowiak – Peszko, Klich, Wolski, Rybus – Robak.