STAR PREVIEW Sat: Ukraine v England

England will be keen to build on the momentum created from their historic victory over old rivals Germany as they face underdogs Ukraine in the quarter-finals of EURO 2020 in Rome.

You would have thought that England had won the competition given the jubilant scenes across the nation when the final whistle blew at Wembley on Tuesday, but Southgate’s men still have a job to do with Ukraine providing the Three Lions with a tough test.
Andriy Shevchenko’s side had to wait a long time for their winning goal against Sweden in Tuesday’s round-of-16 clash at Hampden Park, but Artem Dovbyk’s 120th-minute header was surely worth the wait as it booked Ukraine a spot in the last-eight of the Euros for the first time.

Just like England, the nation of Ukraine is being swept up in Euro fever with fans starting to believe that they could accomplish something special at EURO 2020. A very tough challenge in England stand in their way, however, and a big performance will be required from the underdogs in order to continue their fairy tale and send them to the last-four of the tournament.

Ukraine v England
UEFA EURO 2020 Quarter-Final
20:00 BBC One / BBC iPlayer

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches)
SEP 2013 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING Ukraine 0-0 England
SEP 2012 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING England 1-1 Ukraine
JUN 2012 EURO 2012 England 1-0 Ukraine
OCT 2009 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING Ukraine 1-0 England
APR 2009 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING England 2-1 Ukraine
AUG 2004 FRIENDLY England 3-0 Ukraine
MAY 200 FRIENDLY England 2-0 Ukraine

‘Is it coming home’?

It’s been the question on every single England fan’s lips since their historic victory over Germany in their round-of-16 match at Wembley Stadium and will only continue if Southgate’s side are able to overcome Ukraine in the quarter-finals.

England didn’t have the hardest of routes to the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup and were then found out against the Netherlands in the finals of the Nations League a year later. This left many wondering whether England would be capable of mixing it with the big boys at this tournament.

Those questions were answered emphatically against Germany with Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane banishing the demons of games gone by against the Germans. Suddenly, the whole country is believing again that all those years of hurt could finally be coming to an end.

Southgate switched to a 3-4-3 system to try and contain Germany’s wing-backs in their last game, but whether he continues with that against Ukraine, or reverts back to the 4-3-3 that was predominately used in the group-stages, still remains to be seen.

There are never any easy games in the last-eight of a major tournament, but England couldn’t really have hoped for a better opponent considering Ukraine only just scraped through to the knockout-stages with three points in the group.

The Three Lions are still the only side to have not conceded a goal in this tournament and Ukraine many find it difficult to break that resistance. England to win to nil could well be the play here.

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PROFIT/LOSS (EURO 2020): PROFT 3.82 points

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