Matchday 3 gets underway this evening, with Fantasy managers on the verge of wielding their knockout stage wildcards as teams begin to fall by the wayside. Group A leaders Russia need no more than a draw to progress and send Greece spinning out of the competition, while Poland square up to Czech Republic knowing they must secure all three points in order to make the last eight:
Both games kick off at 7.45pm this evening and, as always, our Dugout Discussion is up and running ahead of what promises to be an action-packed evening.
The team news is now in and is as follows:
Poland XI: Tyton; Piszczek, Wasilewski, Perquis, Boenisch; Dudka, Polanski; Murawski, Blaszczykowski, Obraniak; Lewandowski
Czech Republic XI: Cech; Gebre Selassie, Sivok, Kadlec, Limbersky; Hubschman, Plasil; Jiracek, Kolar, Pilar; Baros
Franciszek Smuda keeps faith with the same XI that started against Russia – this means Przemyslaw Tyton keeps his place between the posts, despite Wojciech Szczesny being available after serving his suspension. Elsewhere, Damien Perquis shakes off any injury doubts to start at centre-half. The Czech Republic make one enforced change to the side that saw off Greece in their previous game. Tomas Rosicky fails to pass a fitness test, meaning Daniel Kolar is afforded the role in the hole behind Milan Baros.
Russia XI: Malafeev; Anyukov, Ignashevich, A. Berezutski, Zhirkov; Denisov, Shirokov, Glushakov; Dzagoev, Arshavin, Kerzhakov
Greece XI: Sifakis; Torosidis, Papastathopoulos, K. Papadopoulos, Tzavelas; Maniatis, Karagounis, Katsouranis; Salpingidis, Samaras, Gekas
Dick Advocaat makes one change to his starting lineup for the game against Greece, with Denis Glushakov replacing Konstantinov Zyryanov in the midfield three. Micahlis Sifakis replaces Konstantinos Chalkias in goal for Greece, Giorgos Tzavellas comes in for Jose Holebas at left-back, while Konstantinos Katsouranis returns to midfield, with Konstantinos Papastathopoulos back in at centre-half after a one-match suspension. Up front, Theofanis Gekas starts after scoring against the Czechs – Kostas Fortounis drops to the bench.
