England will be looking to make it through to the quarter final of another major tournament on Sunday afternoon when they are back in Euro 2024 action in Gelsenkirchen when they go up against Slovakia in the round of 16.
It hasn’t been pretty for England so far but they are through to the knockout stage whereas Slovakia will be loving the fact that they are still in the tournament and will be out to cause a second major upset of the event.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the ITV1 channel in the UK with the extensive build-up beginning at 3.30pm ahead of the 5pm kick off.
England
It hasn’t been pretty from England so far but it has been pretty clear both from the demeanour of Gareth Southgate and the words he has given in interviews that all they have cared about to date was getting out of the group and then winning it. You could argue that is a little lacking in ambition but he will suggest you can’t win the tournament if you don’t do the former and the latter makes winning it a whole lot easier, as we can see from the way the draw has panned out.
England won their opening game and then only had to manage things in their next two to make it through which they have done. They will know they have to improve now they are into the business end of the tournament but there were signs towards the end of the last game when it became obvious their objectives had been achieved that there is plenty left in the tank. The positive is they have come under no pressure defensively.
Slovakia
This has been a wonderful campaign for Slovakia so far. They would have headed to the tournament hellbent on making it out of a competitive group but one which lacked depth behind Belgium but they actually set things up perfectly by getting a win over the biggest nation in their first game and much like their opposition here they just had to stay upright for the remainder of the group to ensure qualification. They wobbled in their second game but got the job done in the third one.
The problem Slovakia are going to have is that they have lost the xG battle in all three of their matches so far and against an England side with the quality that they have they certainly don’t want to be inviting them onto them too much. Slovakia did score in every match in the group though and although they haven’t created a huge amount, when they have given themselves a chance to score they have generally taken it. That is important because it is hard to see them creating too much here.
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Team News
England boss Gareth Southgate has ruled Luke Shaw out of this match. He is expected to make one change to his starting XI with Kobbie Mainoo coming in for Conor Gallagher which means that calls for Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon to start will fall on deaf ears.
Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona has suggested that he has no injury issues which means that he can pick from a fully fit squad. The Italian isn’t expected to make too many changes to his side for this one though.
Betting
Slovakia have done brilliantly well to make it through to this stage but I expect their run to end here. While they have gone well to make it into the knockout stage they keep losing the xG battle and that will catch up with them soon. Belgium created an xG of 1.7 against them while a limited Ukraine reached 1.5xG and Romania 1.2xG. In each match Slovakia failed to reach 1 for their xG total so you do have to fear for them a little here.
I expect England to click into gear now that they are out of the group. It will might not be the swashbuckling high quality football that England fans want but I expect them to win this match and set up that quarter final against Switzerland. When you consider that England have conceded an xGA of 1.1 in total in their three matches I think the best way to play this one is for England to win to nil. The only goal they have conceded was a long range rocket against Denmark but if one of those doesn’t fly in here I wouldn’t expect Jordan Pickford to be beaten so then it is about how many England get at the other end. England to nil does for me.
Tips
Back England to win to nil for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with BetVictor
