Scout Notes – Matchday 3 – Day 2

It was a home nation clean sweep at the summit of Group B.

Wales grabbed top spot with a 3-0 demolition of Russia while England had to settle for second after toiling against a Slovakia side who came for a point and gained it through a mixture of backs to the wall defending and wastefulness on the part of their opponents.

England 0 Slovakia 0

Slovakia parked the bus, England had a tournament-high 30 attempts and the result was a goalless draw.

For a team that came into the Euros with attacking flair and a questionable defence, Roy Hodgson’s men have rarely been troubled at the back but have struggled to break down a trio of stubborn Group B opponents.

Hodgson, as was widely forecast, made six changes to the side that started against Wales and two of them, Jamie Vardy (7.0) and Daniel Sturridge (7.5) missed the best chances, while a third, Nathaniel Clyne (6.0) was almost unplayable in the first half.

The Liverpool full-back created no fewer than seven chances, supplied six crosses and had two attempts on goal. He also reduced dangerous winger Vladimir Weiss (6.5) to an almost exclusively defensive role, yet such is the strength in the England squad, Kyle Walker (5.0) will almost certainly be back for the Round of 16.

What they lack is a killer instinct – an astonishing 10 players had at least two attempts, while no Slovakian had more than one. Even Dele Alli (6.5), given a 35-minute cameo, had four efforts, as did centre-half Gary Cahill (5.5).

Eric Dier (5.0) remains the team’s most attractive option in the official Uefa game courtesy of his classification as a defender. He led the team with five attempts, created two chances and won two tackles and made an interception for decent DraftKings returns as well.

Hodgson is highly likely to return to most of the players who started the Wales match when the knock-out stage starts, though the big question mark hangs over Sturridge. Vardy stretches defences and offers the side a different dimension with his pace, whereas the Liverpool man struggles to impose himself when stationed wide in Hodgson’s preferred 4-3-3.

As for Slovakia, Martin Skrtel (5.5) was immense, with 12 clearances, blocks and interceptions. After bagging a goal and assist apiece last time out, Marek Hamsik and Vladimir Weiss were restricted to a single effort each against the Three Lions – the duo will clearly need to up their output if, as expected, Jan Kozak’s side progress as one of the best third-placed qualifiers.

Wales 3 Russia 0

Wales won Group B in some style, despatching a Russia side with an eye-catching attacking display.

Igor Akinfeev (5.0) made a tournament-high nine saves but over-committed when Aaron Ramsey (7.5) was put through, allowing the Arsenal midfielder to dink the ball over him to open the scoring early on.

Wales never looked back after that, with the 5.0-priced Neil Taylor – bagging his first ever international goal – an unlikely scorer to make it 2-0 and, almost inevitably, Gareth Bale (10.5) adding a third from a Ramsey pass in the second half.

Taylor and his fellow full-back Chris Gunter (5.0) were as industrious as ever, with the former creating two chances and the latter putting in three crosses, but Russian pressure pinned them back more than they would have liked.

Indeed, the shot count – 19-12 in Wales’ favour – suggested a closer encounter than actually transpired. Of those 12 attempts by Russia, only two were on target, compared to 12 from the Welsh.

Bale terrorised Russia’s ageing back line throughout. He had eight attempts, six of which were on target, completed eight of ten dribbles, and created three chances in a superb all-round display that scored particularly highly in DraftKings.

Nonetheless, Ramsey eclipsed his illustrious team-mate, creating six chances, putting in six crosses and firing four attempts to go with his goal and assist.

Joe Allen (6.0) also provided an assist and added a cross, four fouls drawn and four interceptions, but it is Wales’ big two – and that currently includes the tournament’s top scorer in Bale – who offer most of the potential points returns in both the Uefa game and DraftKings.

With a third-placed finisher to come in the Round of 16, Ramsey and Bale look like sound investments in a team that appears to be growing into the tournament.