Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / POOL / AFP

EURO 2020 – England vs Scotland: Will England finish their first job against rival Scotland?

The first win at an opening match of the EURO at their 10th attempt. This fact shows that England has always been playing under pressure during the group stage of European Championships. The expectation by media and fans is second to no other country on this planet. After a successful start to the campaign against Croatia, England may already qualify for the next round against Scotland. The Wembley game will kick-off with 22,500 fans in attendance.

Scotland, on the other hand, has lost their opening match to the Czech Republic. In order to finish the group amongst the best two teams, they will need to get something out of the match against their great rival.

England vs Scotland on TV
🕐 Friday, 18 June, at 2pm
📺 ITV
🏟️ Wembley, London

England comes with confidence

The English team was under massive pressure on the day of their opening match against Croatia, playing the team that took away their dream to lift the World Cup just a few years ago. In addition, England came to the tournament with the second-youngest squad. There was a question mark whether the young lions could handle the expectations. However, Gareth Southgate’s team managed to win three important points and is on the best way to go through to the stage of Last 16.

Trippier as a left back and Jack Grealish on the bench made some English fans start complaining once again and doubting Gareth Southgate’s strategy. Nevertheless, the team performed well in the defence and showed some promising movements in the attack. Theydid not create too many chances however; Phil Foden’s shot on the post in the early stage of the match remained to be one of the best opportunities. It was Kalvin Philips who assisted the goal that earned the win by dynamically moving within the space and passing to Raheem Sterling who found the back of the net. Overall, England has been far from impressive, but effective. An attribute that has often been missed in the past.

Scotland under pressure

Scotland, on the other hand, was left disappointed after their defeat to the Czech Republic. After many years of absence, the fans had hoped for a better start to the tournament. Czech Republic has turned out as the slightly better side during the game. Match winner Patrick Schick was constantly threatening, and exposed the Scottish defence multiple times.

Gutted. Stay positive 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 pic.twitter.com/Y0pyJXc8lF
— Andy Robertson (@andrewrobertso5) June 14, 2021

In the attack, Scotland was able to create some good chances. However, they lacked effectivity and creativity in the last third of the pitch. They have to find solutions against England, defensively and offensively, or they will struggle against a complete team, such as England.

Head to head

This game will be a replicate of the Group A match between England and Scotland at the EURO 96. Alan Shearer and Paul Gascoigne had given the victory to England by scoring one goal each. The two most recent meetings took place during the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. England won 3-0 at Wembley, before they drew 2-2 at Hampden Park.

In all matches played since 1872, England slightly retained the upper hand with 48 wins, 25 draws and 41 defeats in one of the oldest rivalry in football.

What tactics can we expect?

Gareth Southgate is not going to underestimate Scotland. He recently highlighted the good work that Steve Clark was doing with his team. More particularly, Southgate is expecting a ‘humdinger of a game’, as the Scottish team ‘is improving quickly with a lot of players who have emerged in the last two or three years’, stressing the likes of John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Kieran Tierney, Andrew Robertson.

On the other hand, Steve Clarke spotlighted that Scotland have to find courage after the opening defeat. They did not come for a ‘learning experience, but to be competitive’.

England

After the selection of the starting line-up for the first game against Croatia, we learnt that trying to predict Gareth Southgate is not exactly the easiest thing to do. Not many expected that Trippier would start as a left back, for example. Nevertheless, we do not believe that the England manager will change a lot this time. Tactically, England will follow the same plan as they did against Croatia. Starting off from a well-organized defensive line, subsequently aiming to hit the opponent’s defence by direct play through the spaces or by trying to unlock the opponents defensive lines from the wide areas. We expect that Mings and Stones will start again as the defending duo. Philips and Rice may keep their position in the starting line-up after their solid performances, too. Harry Kane will be the target man once again.

Possible line-up: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Mings, Shaw; Phillips, Rice, Mount; Sterling, Kane, Grealish.

Scotland

Scotland will need to change some things, if they want to get something out of the England match. However, their formation is expected to stay unchanged. They generally prefer to play with three defenders and two wing backs, in order to give more freedom in the attack to Andrew Robertson. Yet, Scotland is expected to make some individual changes. For example, Steve Clarke could start with Che Adams this time, in order to harm England on the transition.

Possible line-up: Marshall; Cooper, McGregor, Gallagher; Hanley, O’Donnell, McGinn, McTominay, Robertson; Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes.

EURO 2020 – England vs Scotland: TVSportguide Prediction

We believe that England will finish the job and qualify for the stage of the Last 16 after their second match. The individual quality is on their side. Furthermore, they will be even more confident after defeating Croatia in the opening match, while Scotland is already under pressure to take something away from the game. In the end, we expect England to approach the match similarly as to how they did against Croatia. Scoring a goal in the first half would allow them to focus on the defensive part and aiming to create some counterattacks in the second half.