Fixture: England vs Slovakia
Venue: Stade Geoffroy- Guichard
Time: 12:30 A.M
When you think about England and their performances in World events, one thing is for certain and that’s ‘uncertainty’.
English teams have always, always been strong on paper, but big stage jitters and the fact that almost all their star players play at the same position, hamper their chances of going deep into a tournament. Something similar has happened this time round as well, as they couldn’t hold on to a one goal lead against Russia and had to wait for stoppage time to get all three points against Wales. The gameplay though, has been good, and only if that killer instinct made an appearance somehow, England could be well on course to end their trophy drought.
Also Read: England vs Wales- Late Sturridge winner lifts Three Lions
Sturridge and Vardy brought an influx of freshness and directness into the team when they were brought on in the second half of the game against Wales. Hodgson might look to start with these two players tonight instead of Kane and Sterling.
Slovakia have looked impressive in this tournament, beating Russia in the previous game thanks to an inspired performance from their captain, Marek Hamsik.
Also read: Russia vs Slovakia- Superb Hamsik inspires Slovakia
They now need just a point from this game in order to secure qualification. But it is very important that they raise their game for this one, as England possess the quality to exploit any and every mistake.
If Slovakia and England play the way they did in their respective second round fixtures, we could be in for an end-to-end game.
Reports suggest that England could drop Kane, Sterling and Alli; all of who have looked out of sorts in the first two games. Also, Hodgson might rest a few players for this game, a decision which could backfire big time if England loose, as a loss might mean that they would be facing either Spain or Germany in the round of 16.
Head to Head
These two sides have played thrice, with England winning all three of those encounters.
Predicted England starting XI- Hart, Clyne, Cahill, Smalling, Rose, Rooney, Wilshere, Alli, Sturiidge, Lallana, Vardy
Predicted Slovakia starting XI– Kozacik, Pekarik, Skrtel, Durica, Hubocan, Pecovsky, Kucka, Weiss, Hamsik, Duda, Mak
Match Prediction: England to win 2-0
Do tune into Euro 2016 England vs Slovakia at 12:30 tonight!
