England are back in UEFA Euro 2024 action Sunday when they face Slovakia in the round of 16 in Gelsenkirchen. Switzerland await in the quarterfinals but first these two need to meet to see who advances with the English having topped Group C and the Slovaks having finished third in Group E albeit level on four points with both Romania and Belgium. Beaten finalists in 2020, the Three Lions are expected to make another deep run under Gareth Southgate but have not hit the heights so far.
With five points from a possible nine, England only beat eliminated Serbia and were held to draws by Denmark and Slovenia which has seen the talented squad come in for criticism. Southgate is still struggling to get the best out of certain key elements and will be expected to turn a corner here against a Slovak side which beat the Belgians but then lost to Ukraine and drew with the Romanians. With France, Portugal, Germany and Spain on the other side of the draw, this is a huge chance for the Three Lions.
Francesco Calzona’s men are no pushovers and already showed against Belgium that they can mix it with the big boys. Having lost just twice in 10 qualifying games against a Portuguese side which topped their group, the Falcons are enjoying a resurgence. The high levels of experience across the board, notably Martin Dubravka, Juraj Kucka, Milan Skriniar and Peter Pekarik make this side a tough one to come up against with quality elements such as Stanislav Lobotka thrown into the mix.
Here are our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Sunday, June 30 | Time: 12 p.m. ET
- Location: Arena AufSchalke – Gelsenkirchen, Germany
- TV: FOX | Live stream: Fubo (try for free)
- Odds: England -225; Draw +320; Slovakia +750
How they got here
England won Group C ahead of Denmark and Slovenia while their only win came against eliminated Serbia. Slovakia were third in Group E but had the same number of points as Belgium and Romania with a win over the Belgians, but a loss to eliminated Ukraine in what was a balanced group decided mainly by goal difference.
Team news
England: Luke Shaw is available and could replace Kieran Trippier who took a knock and trained separately with Declan Rice during the week. Anthony Gordon had a nasty fall but should be able to play while Phil Foden returned from a quick family visit after his partner gave birth. Gordon and Cole Palmer will likely warm the bench again while captain Harry Kane needs to start hitting the goals after a relatively dry Euro so far.
Possible England XI: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier; Mainoo, Rice; Saka, Bellingham, Foden; Kane.
Slovakia: Calzona is consistent with his XI so Dubravka, Skriniar and Lobotka should all start. Ondrej Duda and Kucka will support euther David Strelec or Robert Bozenik alongside Lukas Haraslin and Ivan Schranz up top. Tomas Suslov has been useful as a substitute but is unlikely to displace Haraslin.
Possible Slovakia XI: Dubravka; Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Schranz, Bozenik, Haraslin.
Prediction
This one is likely to be tight but expect England to advance by a single goal in either a 1-0 or 2-1 win but a quarterfinal place should be secured all the same. Pick: England 2, Slovakia 1.
