One of the oldest rivalries in international football will be renewed on Tuesday afternoon when England host Germany in the last 16 of Euro 2020 at the famous Wembley Stadium with both sides eyeing up a place in the quarter finals.
There is no shortage of history between these two nations at this venue and elsewhere, much of it which will be recollected throughout the day. This tournament though England won their group to make it through to here while Germany finished runners up in a group which the other two sides who progressed from it have already departed the competition.
Where to watch
It is over to BBC1 for this penultimate match in the round of 16. As you would imagine for a match of this magnitude there is an hour long build-up which begins at 4pm. The match then kicks off at 5pm.
England
You would be hard pushed to say that England have looked impressive in this tournament, unless you are someone who marvels in the defensively solid side of the game rather than the true art of it such as scoring goals, however they won a group which has already seen the form franked by the Czech Republic and as we’ve seen with one or two other sides already in this round, when you qualify you can improve, unlike when you don’t and you watch on from home.
England are yet to concede a goal in this tournament although you would think that record will be put under its greatest threat here. It is at the other end where they have surprisingly struggled in the competition. They scored just two goals in the group phase although there was more than an air of saving themselves about a couple of their displays. This talented core of English attackers need to come to the party and they need to do it now.
Germany
Few teams in European Championship history will have had the rollercoaster ride that Germany had in the group stage of the tournament. After losing their opening match against France they knew another slip up could be fatal so things weren’t looking good when they fell behind to Portugal in their next outing. Courtesy of a couple of goals from their opponents and a tactical mismatch in their favour they came back to win that match and then twice had to come from behind against Hungary to pick up a draw which got them into this match.
This will be the first time the Germans won’t have had home advantage in this tournament and their luck is out a little bit because it will also be the first time in 16 months that Wembley will be half full so they have drawn a bit of a short straw there. Of more concern though is this defence which just looks there for the taking and while they can control the centre of the pitch, there isn’t really an out and out goalscorer in this Germany squad. Most of their attackers are known to the English players from the Premier League too.
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Team News
Gareth Southgate will make a decision on whether to play midfielder Mason Mount and his club mate Ben Chilwell. Both are available after their self-isolation period but haven’t trained with the squad. Bakayo Saka impressed against the Czech Republic and could be a surprise starter.
Germany are expecting to have Antonio Rudiger and Ilkay Gundogan available for the match even though they missed training over the weekend. Rudiger had a cold and Gundogan a head injury so it will be interesting if both start. Thomas Muller is expected to be available too.
Betting
There is a lot of talk about defending being the way forward for England which is weird because going into the tournament everyone feared for the England defence. I still fear for it. It just hasn’t been tested in the tournament yet. Some of that is because of the legs of Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips in the middle of the park but also because they played three opponents who never really offered too much. That is about to change because Germany are going to offer plenty but for all that I fear the English defence I’m confident England can get after the German back line which has looked an accident waiting to happen since the previous World Cup. This is knockout football so a goal is going to make the other double their efforts to get back into the game. I don’t think these defences will take much breaching so I like both teams to score here.
Betfair have pushed Harry Kane to score a header out to 14/1 and that just feels a little big to me. Germany have been a mess defending crosses in this tournament and if England do match up with wing-backs then the aim will be to get crosses into the box which Kane can feed on. Both Hungary goals were scored with the head while Cristiano Ronaldo only needed to lift his cut back another foot higher for Diogo Jota’s goal in the game prior to that. Kane knows he has the beating of Rudiger in the air and if he stays away from Hummels and gets good delivery he can end his barren run with one off the bonce.
Tips
Back Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with William Hill
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Back H.Kane to score with a header for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with Betfair
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