Two teams that the bookmakers consider favorites to win Euro 2024, England and Spain, play their round of 16 matches on Sunday against the much lower ranked Slovakia and Georgia. Will either European giant be upset in the early knockout stages of the tournament?
England vs Slovakia (Sunday in Gelsenkirchen)
Steen Kirby: Another day, another opportunity for Gareth Southgate and England. This England side have been a laughingstock in group stage play, producing just two goals in a group of Serbia, Slovenia and Denmark, England ended on 5 points with a win against Serbia and two consecutive draws, including a goalless draw with Slovenia to complete the group stage.
Slovakia is here because an upset against Belgium, and a draw against Romania were enough to get out of their group, despite losing to Ukraine and all teams in the group finishing on 4 points. On paper this shouldn’t be much of a game, Slovakia has some credible players like Newcastle’s Martin Dubravka, and PSG’s Milan Skriniar in their starting lineup, but England, of course, rolls out stars like Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), and Phil Foden (Manchester City), the problem is this team of stars has looked disjointed, disinterested, tired, and immobile under Southgate, who sets the side up to drop back and form a wall defensively, with Everton’s Jordan Pickford manning goal, but has yet to figure out how to get the attack and the midfield to work.
Kane and Bellingham have looked fatigued, Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool was seen as a failure playing “out of position”, and players like Cole Palmer from Chelsea, Kobbie Mainoo from Manchester United and Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon haven’t gotten a full look in by Southgate.
The entire game will rest on England’s attacking performance, Slovakia knows they are not going to control possession or unleash waves of attack at England, but the longer they stay in the game they will have opportunities to score on set pieces or even play 120 minutes and send the game to the lottery that is penalty kicks. England need to find a way to go and win the games now that it’s knockout stage football the path ahead is very favorable if they can figure it out, and given low expectations, even a modest improvement looks possible. Prediction: England 1 Slovakia 0
Spain vs Georgia (Sunday in Cologne)
Steen: Compared to the stoic football England and Slovakia have offered through three games, this Spain vs Georgia game will probably feel like a breath of fresh air. Spain secured qualification with an impressive 3-0 win against Croatia, a narrow 1-0 win against Italy, and then with less to play for, they defeated a punchy Albania side 1-0 as well.
Georgia have kept their underdog journey alive, they snuck into the knockout stages with a stunning 2-0 victory against Portugal in a game where they didn’t just win by two goals, they actually dictated play and looked comfortable much of the match. Georgia has played better in every group stage match, they were poor in a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Turkey, they drew Czechia in a 1-1 battle, before stunning Portugal (who had already secured qualification).
Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili has been elite in goal, Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was the first goalscorer against Portugal. Spain has way more talent on paper and will be the side dictating play against the Crusaders who are minnows in world and European football. The question is how long can Georgia stay in this game and build belief. If Spain can score early they likely go on to win comfortably, if doubt begins to creep in because the game is tied at the half, Georgia could go on to pull one of the biggest upsets of all time, but the reality is when you have players like Fabian Ruiz (PSG), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), and the revelation that has been Marc Cucurella from Chelsea in the backline, you should be winning a game like this. Look for Spain to not give Georgia a sense of belief and for La Roja to get the job done in the round of 16. Prediction: Spain 2 Georgia 0
Main Photo Credit: IMAGO Copyright: xBaguxBlancox
