England will be hoping to finally deliver a convincing performance at Euro 2024 on Saturday afternoon when they look for a spot in the semi-final of the tournament when they face Switzerland in Dusseldorf.
These two teams have looked completely different specimens so far in this tournament but one of them will move through to the semi-finals. The form book is on the side of Switzerland but the better talent lies with England.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the BBC1 channel in the UK with the build-up to it beginning at 4pm ahead of the 5pm kick off.
England
Like a number of the fancied sides in this tournament, England really haven’t impressed in their campaign to date, but also unlike some of those, the Three Lions are still in the competition and have the potential to improve and go on and land a major tilt at winning a first trophy in 58 years. They are likely to need to improve but they won’t mind if they have three more grinds as long as it results in them being the European champions.
England haven’t really been tested at the back in this tournament and that is generally where the concern lies because while their attack isn’t functioning as it would want to their defence can get them out of trouble, but should the defence not stand up when it is tested then the demise could be swift. It really needs the elite calibre of players in this England setup to stand up and be counted from here on in and just make things much more comfortable for them.
Switzerland
While you would be wrong to say that Switzerland have been the most impressive team at the tournament so far, you would be right to say they have been a team who has looked a lot better than the expectation was of them, although it might be that the expectancy was wrong anyway when you consider that the spine of this side has Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A winners in it. This is a much freer Switzerland side and they have benefitted from that.
They could probably still offer more of a goal threat in the number nine position but the fluid 3-4-3 formation that they play allows them to get plenty of men forward without really leaving themselves exposed. They have a midfield general in Granit Xhaka who has been controlling matches and he might feel as though he has a point to prove against an English side. If the Swiss defence holds up here you sense they will cause England problems in this match.
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Team News
Gareth Southgate is expected to switch formations with the news that Marc Guehi is suspended. Ezri Konsa is likely to replace him in the side with a switch to three at the back likely. Southgate confirmed Luke Shaw is fit but he isn’t expected to start.
Switzerland had a major doubt over Granit Xhaka after the previous match but he has been passed fit to start. Silvan Widmer is back from suspension for the Swiss and he could come straight back in for Fabian Rieder.
Betting
After England had laboured to victory against Slovakia last week I was going to be all over the Swiss this week. I still hope they win from a betting point of view as I am on them outright but I’m a little more enthused about the England chances with the news that they are going to three at the back. The issue I still have with that is England don’t really have three great centre-backs and the left wing-back is going to be Bukayo Saka who is a needs must fit.
That makes me think that both teams can score here. Switzerland are familiar in their 3-4-3 formation and while England have played it before, generally when they play it they have a left footer on the left of the three and that won’t be the case in this match. It does mean that England can create some overloads to free up space for their better players though so I expect the English attack to look a whole lot better here. The Swiss one has scored in every match so far and the 6/5 on both teams scoring in this one just looks too big to me.
Tips
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