STAR PREVIEW Sun: England Women v Germany Women (EURO 2022 Final)

After a brilliant, exhilarating, uplifting European Championship tournament, it all comes down to this. Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses take on Germany at Wembley Stadium in the final of EURO 2022 on Sunday afternoon with the whole nation nervously watching on.

Whatever happens on Sunday, this group of England players have left a lasting legacy on the women’s game in England forever. This tournament – and some of the wonderful Lionesses performances – will have inspired so many at home.

The scenes of young fans dancing to Sweet Caroline after England’s thumping 4-0 victory over Sweden in the semi-final warmed the heart and inspired many of the 9.3 million people watching at home.

After a nervous start, in which Sweden came close on a couple of occasions, England quickly found their feet and once they did, there was only one team heading down Wembley way for that final.

A sensational turn-and-finish from Player of the Tournament contender Beath Mead broke the deadlock for England with 10 minutes remaining of the first-half and – after the interval – the floodgates opened with the Lionesses finding three more goals which included an outrageous back-heel from Alessia Russio.

Wiegman has a plethora of options to choose from, but there may well be a case of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ heading into this final. She named an unchanged XI for their semi-final win against Sweden and it wouldn’t be surprising to see her stick with the same side again.

England Women v Germany Women
UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Final
17:00 BBC One / BBC iPlayer / BBC Sport Website

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
FEB 2022 ARNOLD CLARK CUP England 3-1 Germany
NOV 2019 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY England 1-2 Germany
MAR 2018 SHE BELIEVES CUP Germany 2-2 England
MAR 2017 SHE BELIEVES CUP Germany 1-0 England
MAR 2016 SHE BELIEVES CUP Germany 2-1 England

PREVIOUS EURO WINNERS
2017 WINNER Netherlands RUNNER-UP Denmark
2013 WINNER Germany RUNNER-UP Norway
2009 WINNER Germany RUNNER-UP England
2005 WINNER Germany RUNNER-UP Norway

Germany’s semi-final clash with France was much more tense and less one-sided than England’s demolition of Sweden.

Alexandra Popp, surely Germany’s player of the tournament, gave her side the lead in the 40th-minute but they were pegged back just before half-time through a Merle Frohms own-goal.

However, it was to be Germany’s night at Stadium:MK with the magnificent Popp grabbing the late goal to send Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side through and set up a mouth-watering final with England at Wembley Stadium.

Germany are wildly successful in this competition and aiming for a ninth European Championship tite but face a tough test against England in the final if they are to make that happen.

As we look for value in this final, the eyes divert to both the first goalscorer and correct score markers which Star Sports are top-price on.

STARSPORTS.BET MARKETS INC TOP PRICE: FIRST GOALSCORER & CORRECT SCORE

With the form that Beth Mead is in, it is hard to look beyond England’s number 7 to get the scoring underway in this one – and it looks good value as well at 7/1.

As for the correct score market, it looks unlikely to be as high-scoring for England as their incredible 4-0 semi-final win over Sweden. This looks set to be a lot more tense and cagey and that’s why we’re backing England to win 1-0 at 13/2.

We backed England to win this tournament and we still believe in that. A win over Germany in front of a packed Wembley crowd would be the fairytale end to end years of hurt for England and, with the wind firmly in the Lionesses’ sails, we think it will become a reality on Sunday with England winning in normal time.

RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK England to win in normal time 3pts at 7/5 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK England to win 1-0 1pt at 13/2 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Beth Mead to score first 1pt at 7/1 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

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