After a brief trip to Rome for a quarterfinal triumph over Ukraine, England return to Wembley Stadium for the semifinal of Euro 2020, where they will meet the story of the tournament, Denmark.
Denmark continued their incredible Euro journey with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic, to set up a trip to England for the first time in the tournament.
Can England win on home turf and return to the final of a major tournament for the first time since 1966? We can’t say for sure but the Three Lions will fancy their chances at making that happen.
Preview
England eliminated Ukraine in the quarterfinals, beating the rivals with 4-0. So that is yet another clean sheet for Gareth Southgate‘s boys. They are by far the best defense in the entire tournament, without a single goal conceded.
They would keep the net intact for the seventh straight match, the ninth in the past 11 games. But that is Southgate’s strategy, defense first, and after that counter-attacks.
One by one, the Croats, Scots, Czechs, Germans and at last Ukrainians couldn’t beat Pickford, who was masterful with his teammates in the backline. In the meantime, Harry Kane woke up, scoring three goals during the knockout stage, showing his class when needed the most. He tied with Raheem Sterling, who also has three goals each.
Denmark solved the Czech Republic without too many problems, 2-1, and even though the Czechs had the initiative in the second half, the Danes would rebuff their attacks without any problems. Their mentality in those stressful situations is extremely resistant, which is one of the biggest reasons for entering the top four
Kjaer and the boys have four straight matches with over 2.5 goals, and three of them during that span ended with both teams netting, which wasn’t that frequent before the start of EURO 2020.
The Danes are playing powerful football, with a strict system in which every player knows its exact place. Above all, they are physically impeccable, with all 10 players in the field prepared to run for all 120 minutes if needed. All of them are very fluid and flexible when it comes to transformation but also know how to play positional football.
All indications point to a win for England once again but it might not come easy.
Form Guide: England
England will be back at home to take on Denmark in the Euro 2020 semifinals, after their heroics in Rome, where they thrashed Ukraine 4-0. Denmark, on the other hand, managed a 2-1 win over Czech Republic in the quarters, and this is bound to be a tougher game for both sides. England have no loss at this competition; the only time they failed to win was in the 0-0 draw with Scotland. They’ve also not conceded a goal so far, while after struggling a bit to get the goals at the group stages, they’ve found their scoring boots in the knockout stages.
In their three opening games of the competition, they managed two goals, and in two in the knockouts, they’ve scored six. Harry Kane’s return to scoring ways has really boosted England and after grabbing three goals in two matches, he will be very confident in the semis, especially as they get back to play at home. Bukayo Saka missed the Ukraine game with injury but should be available for the semis, though his replacement, Jadon Sancho did well. Jack Grealish, who has also been impressive in this competition will be pushing for a start, as England eyes a 12th unbeaten outing. They’ve won 10 of the last 11 matches and head to this game with clean sheets in their last seven matches, while only conceding one goal in the 11 matches. England have no loss in nine home matches, winning eight and keeping eight clean sheets.
Form Guide: Denmark
Denmark didn’t have the strongest of starts to this competition but they’ve been remarkable in their recovery. They lost their opening two matches in the competition and only managed to squeeze through after beating Russia 4-1 in the final group game. A near-tragedy incident involving Christian Eriksen rocked their first game of the campaign and they lost 1-0 to first timers, Finland before a loss to Belgium in the second game.
They haven’t looked back after that though, and in the last three matches they’ve scored 10 goals. They had a powerful first half against Czech Republic in the quarters but lost a bit of the pace in the second half and only managed to hold on for a slim win. The Danes have failed to keep clean sheets in four of their five matches at this competition. Though they’ve scored in each of their last four, they’ve failed to shut out opposition completely after taking the lead in three of the four matches. This will be more of an away match for Denmark, and England will enjoy the most support, but the Danes have a good away run, with just one loss in their last 21 matches.
How the match could go
Two teams with huge momentum, it will be about which team manages the occasion better. England have the experience and will have the home crowd behind them.
On paper, Gareth Southgate’s side are the more talented, but the Danes have showed time and again they have the ability to beat the best. Given the momentum with both teams and form of players at both ends, it’s safe to say England are expected to nick this one.
Betting Tips and Predictions
England to win
England are in excellent form at Euro 2020 and have now added extra goals onto the back of their solid defence. The hosts have won five of their last six matches in all competitions, keeping clean sheets in all six matches. Denmark started the Euros with back-to-back defeats against Finland and Belgium and many are surprised to see the Danes at this latter stage of the competition. The bookies suggest England are huge favorites as well and we’re backing them to get the job done. Bet365 have 1.72 odds, Bet9ja have 1.76 and 1xbet have 1.79.
Over 2.5 goals
Going by stats, this should normally be the opposite instead as most of England’s games have witnessed under 2.5 goals. Five of England’s last six fixtures have also witnessed fewer than three goals being scored, with the exception being that 4-0 domination of Ukraine in the quarter-finals. However, taking raw form into account, England have looked better attacking wise and it’s easy to see that they have the potential for goals in them. It’s difficult to predict whether Denmark can get on the score-sheet or not, given England’s defence. However, this is something Southgate and company can easily cover themselves, if they hit full gear. Bet9ja and Bet365 have 2.30 odds while 1xbet have 2.49.
Anytime Goal-scorer (England)
Harry Kane
After the England captain and reigning World Cup and Premier League golden boot winner went 463 minutes without a goal for his country, his game-sealing goal against Germany led to a massive relief inside Wembley, and seemingly, inside Kane’s head. He added another and then nearly completed the hat-trick with a fantastic effort from outside the penalty area. With three goals in his last two games, he is on full confidence right now and you can’t write him off from scoring yet again. Bet365 have 2.05 odds for him to score while Bet9ja have 2.50.
Raheem Sterling
Sterling looks at the top of his game and provides a constant goal threat, turning provider in Rome. He might not have scored in the 4-0 rout of Ukraine but the threat was always evident. With three goals, he is the joint top scorer for England alongside Kane and his goals have been the most important for the Three Lions so far. Interestingly, all of his goals have come at Wembley and we’re backing him to grab one where he usually dominates. Bet365 have 3.20 while Bet9ja have 3.50.
Anytime Goal-scorer (Denmark)
Kasper Dolberg
In Kasper Dolberg, the Danes have a striker in form. Individually, the team’s primary offensive highlight so far has come from him. The attacker has already scored three goals in the competition and has helped Denmark come away with a positive result on several occasions. The Danes have also won anytime he’s scored and that could count as him being some sort of ‘goodluck’ charm. It remains to be seen if he’ll start at Wembley but given his form, it’s hard to look past him. Bet365 have 4.50 odds for him to score while Bet9ja have 5.00.
Yussuf Poulsen
The Leipzig star has also been one of the standout names for Denmark with two goals so far in the competition. He is one of the few who can trouble the English defence and he is expected to start after being rested of some sort against Czech Republic. Bet365 have 4.75 while Bet9ja have 5.20.
Football Lover. All-round junkie of the beautiful game. Could be found watching football most of the time. If not he’s writing about them or making some punditry you don’t agree with. A certain bias for Arsenal and Santos FC.
