Can England beat Germany?
Tuesday 29 June sees England take on Germany at Wembley. The winners of this last sixteen match will face either Sweden or Ukraine in the last eight. But can England beat the Germans?
England come into this game with some sparkling statistics. They are unbeaten in their last nine games and kept clean sheets in eight of them. Impressive on paper but not so thrilling in terms of performances.
It’s strange that a set of exciting players can play such dull football. They have failed to score more than one goal in a game in each of their last five games. No goals conceded is a great stat, but the standard of opposition hasn’t been stellar. They are like a boxer who is unbeaten but now has to step up to world level and try to get a big win.
Even when reaching the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, England had a favourable draw. Let’s not forget that England lost three games in that tournament. Progress was made in the 2018/19 Nations League, finishing fourth but they won’t be going to the finals of the 2020/21 event.
When you look at the list of England players, the odds should be short on them scoring plenty of goals but that’s just not happening. Gareth Southgate is probably already rehearsing his press interview if and when England lose at Euro 2020. He’ll tell us how England have lots of young players and have a good future ahead of them. He might even mention how his players are tired after a long season, that’s the usual one.
England need to go up a few gears if they are to win Euro 2020. Only Raheem Sterling has scored for them in this tournament. Cristiano Ronaldo managed to score three goals more than England have so far managed. Harry Kane hasn’t performed well so far in these championships. The hope is that he’s saving his best for the knockout stages. Sportsbooks still have him at good odds to score in this match. He has to up his game and finally get on the scoresheet.
Who will Gareth Southgate pick for this last 16 match against Germany? The odds are that Jack Grealish may well start again, it’s unlikely that Mason Mount will return after his period in isolation. Will Phil Foden be back in the line-up though?
England have Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham who are both having success in the Bundesliga. They may be young but have more experience of playing against Germans. Don’t bet on them starting the game but if England struggle though, both would be ideal to come on as substitutes. It will be a great game to be placing bets on. How about getting some free bets to use on the game? You can do that by using the William Hill promo codes for UK customers.
At least England aren’t conceding goals which is one strong point. Can their defence keep out top international strikers though? The thought of marauding Germans heading towards the English goal is a major worry for Gareth Southgate. Close your eyes and the nightmare will appear.
While other countries seem to be on a round Europe tour, it’s not been that case for England. They will have to pack their suitcases if winning this game though. A last eight match would be played in Rome, but it’d be back to Wembley for a semi-final and final.
Home advantage is helpful, and more fans will be able to attend. It doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to win though. They couldn’t beat Scotland and lost to Denmark last year. There are still memories of the loss to Germany at Wembley when England hosted Euro 1996. They have to be put to the back of their minds. Not easy when Southgate played in that game and missed a penalty.
Germany struggled at times in the Group of Death. But for coming from behind to draw with Hungary, their title hopes would have been killed off. Germany went behind in all three of their group matches but did manage to beat Portugal 4-2.
Havertz, Gnabry and Muller will present England with plenty of problems. England’s defence has to prove that they can cope with the constant pressure they may come under. Pickford has to cut out the mistakes that cost him his place at Everton for a while last season.
This should be a great match and betting on both teams to score looks a good bet. Can England win this match? They have the players to do so but more chances have to be created and taken if they want to progress.