The group stage of the European U-21 Championships wraps up with two very interesting games where losing is not an option for anyone. England and Italy will meet at the Ander Stadium in Olomouc to define their possibilities of making it to the semi-finals where Germany and Denmark are waiting.
Both teams have only scored one goal, but that has been enough for England to win one game and for Italy to end up with a draw. Now England is in second place of Group B, trailing Portugal by one point, and Italy is in fourth with the same amount of goals as in points.
In the course of the last two games, England has created 36 opportunities that either end blocked, going
England has Harry Kane as their main figure in the attacking third of the field. Kane, who came out a great season with Tottenham has not been able to shine as bright as he may have wanted after 180 minutes of action. Southgate wants his wingers and midfielders to work on their accuracy when crossing the ball so that Kane can get the ball comfortably and score.
Italy is under a bit more pressure. While England only needs a win to secure a spot in the next round, the Italians need to win their game and hope that Sweden doesn't shock Portugal. Antonio Conte, Italy's senior national team manager will be in attendance to support the young talent from his country.
Their coach Luigi Di Biagio knows that there will be some changes in the initial lineup, but will try to stick with the way they played against Portugal. Biagio believes that if his team plays the same way or a bit better against England, they have a chance of earning three points in this important game.
One of the aspects in which the manager is undecided is if he should go with only two players in attack or three. He knows England is a team with
Portugal vs Sweden
Portugal is the leader in this group with a win a and a tie. That makes them the clear favorites ahead of their last group stage game but has not secured their spot in the next round. Sweden is also undefeated but has not won any of the two previous game it has played against England and Italy.
Rui Jorge, Portugal's manager, does not see it as a priority to win the group stage, but to find a way to move to the next round. A draw against Sweden will be good enough for them and would also give Italy a chance to move on.
Jorge knows that he will meet a team with great strength and pace. A team which bases most of their quality from what they are able to do from the midfield up. His main concern is to find a way to stop their dangerous attacks, which can come from various angles and spots around the field.
Jorge is confident that his team will not relax despite being the group leaders. He believes his men will work just as hard as they have before to come out with a result that gets them to play with either Germany or Denmark in the semi-finals.
Hakan Ericson is aware of how good Portugal is. He knows his team is the underdog in this game but is not afraid to complicate things for their opponent. Ericson claims that he will be facing the best attacking team that he has played so far, so they need to be cautious in defense to keep them away from scoring.
Fatigue is also a problem for many of the players in Ericson's side. He can tell that his players have played hard and that there has not been enough time to recover. In the end, they must find whatever motivates them to have a shot to win and move on to the semi-finals. A draw would not be enough for them to move on.
These teams have played six games against each other in the past. Sweden has a record of 3-1-2 against their upcoming opponent, so there can be some motivation to take from there. Meanwhile, Italy has a 5-3-4 record against England. The underdogs of both games lead the way in head-to-head encounters.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
