It’s the last of the quarter-finals this evening as England take on Italy for a place in the last four against Germany. After tonight’s eagerly-anticipated clash, Fantasy managers have a three-day wait until the first of the semi-finals get underway on Wednesday evening, when defending champions Spain take on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. As always, we’ve opened up the Dugout Discussion ahead of kick-off:
The team news is in and is as follows…
Roy Hodgson keeps faith in the same XI that saw off Ukraine in the previous match, with Wayne Rooney partnering Danny Welbeck up top. Steven Gerrard will be looking to keep up the form that has harvested returns in all three of his games thus far – his battle against Daniel De Rossi in the midfield area looks key to his nation’s chances of progressing.
For Italy, Cesare Prandelli makes three changes from the game against Republic of Ireland. Leonardo Bonucci replaces the injured Giorgio Chiellini at centre-half, while Thiago Motta and Antonio Di Natale both drop out, replaced by Riccardo Montolivo and Mario Balotelli respectively.
England Starting XI: Hart; Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole; Milner, Gerrard, Parker, Young; Rooney, Welbeck
Italy Starting XI: Buffon; Abate Barzagli Bonucci Balzaretti; Marchisio, Pirlo, Di Rossi; Montolivo; Cassano, Balotelli
