England vs Scotland

Group D – Wembley Stadium, London

England’s opener against Croatia looked impressive as the team kept Croatia to a limited number of chances. The goal came with some great play in the midfield as they went on to win 1-0, but they will fancy beating rivals Scotland more comfortably. They aren’t a side that tends to concede a lot, and they should be able to dominate this game with a lot of pace going forward. The options that England have in almost every position is staggering, and the quality that they all possess means that this team should be looking to reach the very latter stages of the competition or even win it. It’s a young team, but a team that does have a lot of experienced players that play week-in week-out in the Premier League.

 

Unlucky is a word that Scotland seem to carry with themselves anywhere they go. Once again, they created the better chances and the more opportunities against Czech Republic, but somehow lost the game 2-0. They should be fired up here against their bitter rivals, but it’ll be a tough ask for them to get anything from the game. They come into this one in need of points and it isn’t getting any easier with Croatia still to come after this one. Defensively there are some problems, especially in the centre back positions and they will likely play Scott McTominay in that area instead of midfield, along with Kieran Tierney who will hopefully be fit after he missed the first game. It’s a game that Scotland need to at least get a point from if they are to have any hope of progressing through, but it looks almost impossible.

 

Portugal vs Germany

Saturday

Group F – Allianz Arena, Munich

Portugal left it late in Hungary, but eventually ran out comfortable 3-0 winners after Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a brace. It was a dominant first half display, but a slice of luck late on in the game gave Portugal the opener as Hungary crumbled afterwards. It was a much needed win which means that this one is huge after Germany lost to France. Portugal could qualify here with a win in Germany and they’ll be looking to do just that as this one has the makings of what could be a great game. Ronaldo is still the one that is relied upon, but they have a lot of quality throughout the side that is capable of hurting Germany.

 

Germany should consider themselves unlucky to come away with a loss after their display against France. They put up a great fight especially in the second half and should have at least come away with a point, but it wasn’t to be. They have to pick up all 3 here, but it won’t be easy. Portugal are strong at the back, while Germany do lack some physicality up top and that could be a problem for the Germans. Going forward it’ll depend on who they play, but they do have a lot of pace with Gnabry, Werner and Sane, and chances will be created, they just have to be more clinical.

 

Spain vs Poland

Saturday

Group E – Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville

For what was a dominant display against Sweden, Spain couldn’t find the back of the net. Gerard Moreno had the best of the opportunities late on in the game, but he couldn’t connect well enough with the header to score. The striker’s performance should warrant a start here though, but Spain must start to play it forward more and with a quicker tempo. Poland will likely be a similar opposition to Sweden and it could be another tough 90 minutes for Spain to try to break them down and find goals.

 

Poland needs to come to Spain and win. After a disappointing opening game against Slovakia in which they lost 2-1, they now find themselves in a must win against Spain which is going to be tough. They don’t have a lot of players that are going to change a game, with the likely one being only Robert Lewandowski, but the striker doesn’t quite get the service for his national side that he does at Bayern Munich. It’ll be a defensive display from Poland who will hope to create one or two chances, but if those chances do come, they have to take them.