ENGLAND are stepping up their bid to bring football home after travelling to Rome to take on Ukraine in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals.
The Three Lions secured a famous 2-0 win over Germany in the last 16 – their first in a tournament knockout stage since the 1966 World Cup Final.
Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling netted in the historic victory at Wembley with the country beginning to dream again.
And next up it’s Ukraine in the Italian capital after Andriy Shevchenko’s men beat Sweden in extra time.
Playing away from home for the first time in the tournament, England will need to be at their best to avoid a shock upset like Iceland in 2016.
Gareth Southgate has already revealed he was a ‘party pooper’ in the dressing room on Tuesday to stamp out any complacency.
England’s clash with Ukraine will kick off at 8pm at the Stadio Olimpico – the home stadium for both Roma and Lazio.
It will be aired on ITV1 – and streamed on the ITV Hub – with a preview starting at 7pm.
Team news
England have a clean bill of health tonight but boss Southgate has a number of selection issues to juggle for the quarter-final.
Jack Grealish shone during his cameo against Germany and will be pushing for only his second start of the tournament.
Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane are both guaranteed starters so it remains to be seen whether England will revert to the 4-3-3 set-up that they used in the group stages.
Four players – Harry Maguire, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice and Phil Foden – are also one booking away from suspension.
The Three Lions shifted to three at the back to match Germany but the formation could be tweaked to accommodate Mason Mount.
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN BETTING DEALS TODAY
Mount and Chelsea team-mate Ben Chilwell were forced to quarantine after coming into contact with Billy Gilmour following England’s draw with Scotland on June 18.
The 22-year-old was available to face Germany but wasn’t risked after missing out on tactical work with the rest of the team during training.
Mount could now return against Ukraine as the most attacking of a midfield three alongside Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice.
Yet the latter duo are both one booking away from missing the semi-final meaning Jordan Henderson could come in.
Ukraine meanwhile will be without striker Artem Besedin after he was ruled OUT of the remainder of the Euros.
The 25-year-old was the victim of a horror challenge from Marcus Danielson that saw the Swedish defender shown a straight red card.
Form guide
Ukraine have won only one of their seven matches against England.
Their only previous fixture at the Euros was in 2012 when Wayne Rooney scored the only goal at Donetsk’s Donbass Arena and current coach Andriy Shevchenko was a second-half substitute.
Yet the Blue and Yellows have proved one of the surprise packages of this summer’s tournament.
Ukraine – who have now reached the last eight for the first time in their history – came through Group C despite two defeats.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Co were unlucky to lose 3-2 to the Netherlands before they bounced back with a 2-1 win over North Macedonia.
A narrow 1-0 defeat to Austria followed but Ukraine stunned Group E winners Sweden on Tuesday.
It was Artem Dovbyk who broke Swedish hearts deep in extra-time in the last-16 to set up a clash with the Three Lions.
England are a great team, they have a deep bench, an outstanding coaching staff and we are fully aware how tough this game is going to be
Andriy Shevchenko
Shevchenko said: “England are a great team, they have a deep bench, an outstanding coaching staff and we are fully aware how tough this game is going to be.
“They are incredibly difficult to score against but their strength shouldn’t scare us.
“It should motivate us because everything is possible in football as in life and we will play our hearts out to give our fans even more to cheer about.”
England meanwhile finished top of Group D above Croatia and the Czech Republic after beating both, with a draw against Scotland, before that famos win over Germany.
Watch out for…..
Raheem Sterling. The 26-year-old winger has been England’s leading hope in the tournament so far with three goals.
And his Manchester City team-mate Zinchenko named him as one of the best in the world.
He told reporters: “Raheem Sterling is one of the best wingers in the world. Right now he is in amazing form.
“He is great, he makes the difference. We obviously need to pay attention to him and we will need to try to somehow stop him because he’s on a roll now.”
If the game is rubbish….
Vlada Zinchenko – married to City ace Oleksandr – will hope to report on a famous win for Ukraine as one of the country’s most talented reporters.
Vlada was working on the team’s 5-0 win over Serbia in June 2019 when he planted a kiss on her cheek to confirm their relationship.
They were again in the spotlight as he helped Ukraine qualify for Euro 2020 a few months later, hugging on air.
And Oleksandr proposed with a heartfelt display of roses inside the national team’s 70,000-capacity Kiev stadium before their big day last year.
Fancy a punt?
Get all your Euro 2020 ante-post tips with our tournament betting guide HERE.
Match odds?
*All odds correct at time of publication
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
