At 0:00 on July 1, the 1/8 finals of the European Cup will usher in the match between England and Slovakia. As the number one favorite to win this European Championship and the team with the highest total value of players among the 24 teams, the performance of the England team in the group stage of this European Championship can be described as high and low, well, in fact, 1:0 Serbia is not high. England have a lot of talent, but manager Gareth Southgate's line-up and on-the-spot command has always been criticised for using three different starting line-ups for three group games, and in the upcoming quarter-finals, Southgate is likely to make changes to his starting line-up again, with Manchester United's Prince Maynoo expected to start.
England is ranked 5th in the world and is worth 1.52 billion euros, making it the most expensive team in this European Cup. 1 win and 2 draws in the group stage, the first place in Group C qualified, and the first game won 1-0 against Serbia, Saka assisted Bellingham to score the only goal; In the second game, he drew 1-1 with Denmark, Kane scored; The third match was a 0-0 draw with Slovenia. Only two goals have been scored in three group games, which is clearly not in line with the high value of English players.
For England manager Gareth Southgate, the lack of talent in England has become a real annoyance, with the omission of Maddison, Grealish and Harry Maguire from the 26-man squad for the Euros. And when it came to the European Cup, who to start and who to play made him even more nerve-wracking. 180 million euros Bellingham, do you want him to start? 150 million euros Foden, do you want him to start? Will you start the €140 million Bukayo Saka? 120 million euros Rice, did you start him? 100 million euros captain Kane, will you let him start? The above 6 players are all core players of their respective clubs and the prince brother, and Southgate does not dare to put these 5 uncles on the bench who puts them on the bench.
Under the 433 formation, five of the six midfielders have been named in five positions, and the other midfielder has two of the three group games belonging to Liverpool's prince Alexander-Arnold and one to Chelsea's prince Conor Gallagher; In addition, Manchester United's Prince Mainou, Chelsea's second prince Palmer, and Newcastle's Prince Gordon have also won the opportunity to come off the bench. However, with such a super-luxurious squad, England have only scored two goals in three group games, which is unreasonable, so Southgate will continue to permutate and combine the starting line-up in midfield.
On the contrary, the relatively low-value midfield performance is stable, goalkeeper Pickford, defenders Walker, Stones, Guehi and Kieran Trippier started all three group games, and England conceded only one goal in three group games, second only to Spain, which did not concede a goal, and tied with France and Belgium for the second fewest goals conceded in this European Championship.
Southgate is expected to maintain stability at the back in this game against Slovakia, while the midfield line-up will be revised, starting goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, defenders Walker, John Stones, Guehi and Kieran Trippier, midfielders Rice, Bellingham and Maynu, forwards Kane, Foden and Saka, with Manchester United's Prince Maynu likely to make his first start at this European Championship.
Slovakia is ranked 45th in the world, with a total value of 156 million euros, 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in the group stage, finishing third in Group E, defeating Belgium 1:0 in the first game, losing to Ukraine 1:2 in the second game, and drawing 1:1 with Romania in the final game. In the three group games, Slovakia scored 3 goals and conceded 3 goals, and the attack and defense were very balanced, and finally accumulated 4 points with the other 3 teams in the group, ranking third in the group on goal difference. It is worth mentioning that Slovak striker Schlanz has scored two goals, but he is only worth 2 million euros, which makes those British stars worth hundreds of millions of dollars embarrassed?
Slovakia are expected to start this game, goalkeeper Dubravka (Newcastle), defenders Hansko (Feyenoord), Skriniar (Paris Saint-Germain), Vavro (Copenhagen) and Pecarik (Hertha Berlin), midfielders Duda (Verona), Lobotka (Napoli) and Kucska (Bratislava), forwards Haraslin (Sparta Prague), Strelec (Bratislava) and Schlandz (Slavia Prague), The starting lineup is basically the same as the third group game.
England are unbeaten in the last six meetings between the two teams, with five wins and one draw, and the last time the two teams met was in the 2017 World Qualifiers, when England beat Slovakia 2-1, and the two players who scored for England at the time Dier and Marcus Rashford were not included in the squad for this tournament. England are expected to extend their unbeaten streak in this game.
Note: The picture comes from the Internet.