Gareth Bale is afforded a sub role off the bench as Wales lose 3-0 to Sweden. Romelu Lukaku nets again as Belgium come from behind to get the better of Norway, whilst Burak Yilmaz celebrates his return to the Turkey first XI by notching the winner against Slovenia.
Sweden 3 Wales 0
Mikael Lustig grabbed a goal and assist as Sweden chalked up a first win in four attempts with a 3-0 home victory over Wales.
At a price of 5.0 in Uefa, the right-back – who produced more efforts in the box than any team-mate – is easier on the budget than fellow defenders Martin Olsson and Andreas Granqvist, at 5.5 apiece. The Swedes have now conceded just once in the last three, though frustratingly for Fantasy managers, the 4.0-priced Viktor Nilsson Lindelof’s run of three straight starts came to an end after a recall for Erik Johansson saw him drop to the bench.
In midfield, Emil Forsberg looks to have cemented the role on the left of a 4-4-2. The 5.0-priced winger – who has started each of the last three – found the net and delivered three key passes, more than any home player.
Rested for the goalless draw against Slovenia last week, Zlatan Ibrahimovic supplied the assist for Forsberg’s opener before being replaced around the hour-mark, whilst John Guidetti (6.5) emerged from the bench to finish the scoring. Despite his strike, Guidetti seems unlikely to oust Marcus Berg (7.0) as Ibrahimovic’s partner up front.
It’s three defeats and a draw in four now for Chris Coleman’s side, who are showing few signs of form ahead of the tournament.
Gareth Bale was afforded a brief run out as a second-half sub due to his Champions League exertions with Real Madrid. Despite being on the pitch for just 26 minutes, Bale still produced four attempts on goal – more than any Wales player, with Aaron Ramsey (three) next in line. Having played a part in nine of his side’s 11 goals over qualifying, thanks to seven goals and two assists, the former Spurs man’s influence on Coleman’s attack is more than apparent and has earned him 11% ownership in Uefa.
At the back, James Chester continues to look an assured pick and is the cheapest on offer at 4.5. With one clean sheet (against Andorra) in seven, though, there’s very little faith in the Wales defence at this point.
Sweden XI: Isaksson (Olsen 46); Lustig, Johansson, Granqvist, Olsson (Augustinsson 46); Larsson, Kallstrom, Lewicki (Ekdal 61), Forsberg (Durmaz 61); Berg (Guidetti 76), Ibrahimovic (Kujovic 61)
Wales XI: Hennessey (Ward 46); Chester (Collins 64), A Williams, Davies; Gunter, King (Bale 64), Vaughan (Edwards 64), Taylor; Ramsey, J Williams (Huws 74); Vokes (Church 73)
Belgium 3 Norway 2
Belgium came from behind to overcome a stubborn Norway outfit 3-2 in Brussels.
Romelu Lukaku produced four attempts and was in the goals again – the Everton frontman has now scored in four successive matches, yet is owned by just 9% of Uefa managers so far.
Eden Hazard and substitute Laurent Ciman also found the net, whilst Kevin de Bruyne and Toby Alderweireld were attributed with assists. Once again, De Bruyne was the creative lynchpin for Marc Wilmots’ side and produced six key passes – at least twice the number of any team-mate. He has now created 19 chances in his last two appearances and is owned by 16% of Uefa managers, more than any team-mate.
Wilmots lined up with two 4.5-priced full-backs yesterday. The Red Devils boss switched Jason Denayer from centre-half onto the right, whilst Jordan Lukaku was stationed on the opposite side of defence after Thomas Vermaelen missed out with a muscle strain. Lukaku created a trio of chances and has also earned a couple of assists in recent friendlies – if Vermaelen fails to recover, he could be a real under the radar option. A run of seven matches without a shut-out suggests Wilmots’ side may continue to struggle in the absence of Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Lombaerts.
Belgium XI: Courtois; Denayer (Ciman 73), Alderweireld, Vertonghen, J Lukaku; Witsel (Fellaini 57), Nainggolan; Mertens (Origi 80), De Bruyne, Hazard (Dembele 84); Lukaku
Slovenia 0 Turkey 1
It’s just one defeat in 16 matches now for Turkey after last night’s 1-0 win in Slovenia.
After proving his fitness with a sub appearance in the previous friendly, Burak Yilmaz returned to Fatih Terim’s starting XI and bagged the only goal of the match. Top scorer in qualifying with four strikes from eight appearances, the 8.0-priced frontman played for 90 minutes and looks to have cemented a starting berth for the tournament.
In the centre of the park, Hakan Calhanoglu earned the assist for Yilmaz’ strike before making way at the break. Priced at 7.5, the Bayer Leverkusen man is the most popular Turkey player in the Uefa game with 5% ownership and also scored against Austria and England in the three preceding matches.
Wide man Volkan Sen (5.5) had started three of the four prior to yesterday but was afforded just 45 minutes after the break as Terim opted for Oguzhan Ozyakup on the right wing instead.
Turkey have now served up back-to-back clean sheets after keeping out Montenegro last week. Caner Erkin and Mehmet Topal are the only two players to start each of the last three matches over the past fortnight in defence but, frustratingly, both are listed as midfielders in the Uefa game – this leaves keeper Volkan Babacan as the only viable, secure pick amongst Terim’s backline regulars.
Turkey XI: Babacan; Gonul, Topal, Balta, Erkin (Koygasi 64); Inan (Malli 83); Calhanoglu (Mor 46), Tufan, Ozyakup (Sen 46), Turan (Sahin 74); Yilmaz (Sahan 90)
Serbia 1 Russia 1
Russia roll up to the Euros on the back of a single win in five after registering a 1-1 draw against Serbia.
Lone striker Alan Dzyuba opened the scoring with just five minutes remaining thanks to an assist from Aleksandar Kokorin, who was again stationed on the right of a 4-2-3-1. Although he’s classified as a forward in the Uefa game, Kokorin (7.0) has scored or assisted in each of the last three matches and is cheaper than the 8.0-priced Dzyuba.
At the back, recent friendlies suggest that Igor Smolnikov and Vasili Berezutski, at 5.0 apiece, are the cheapest routes into Leonid Slutski’s defence. Russia were fairly resilient in qualifying, with five clean sheets in ten, but they’ve looked far less secure in recent matches and managed a single shut-out in five.
Russia XI: Akinfeev; Smolnikov (Shishkin 62), V Berezutski, Ignashevich, Schennikov (Torbinski 76); Shatov (Shirokov 75), Denisov (Glushakov 51), Golovin (Ivanov 60); Kokorin, Dzyuba, Smolov (Mamaev 46)
Czech Republic 1 South Korea 2
Czech Republic suffered a 2-1 home loss to South Korea in their final pre-Euro 2016 friendly yesterday afternoon.
The hosts managed more than double the number of attempts (15 to seven) than their visitors, though Pavel Vrba’s decision to make six substitutions in the second half meant that no Czech player produced more than two efforts on goal.
Having scored as a sub in each of the previous two, Tomas Necid (7.0 in Uefa) was handed the chance to lead the line but failed to impress and managed a single attempt on goal before making way on 79 minutes.
Central midfielder Vladimir Darida was the chief creator for the Czechs and served up four key passes without success. Setting you back 6.5 in Uefa, Darida was top for attempts on goal and second for chances created over the qualifiers.
Defender Marek Suchy netted the home side’s goal, with Jaroslav Plasil supplying the assist, though neither looks likely to find a way into the starting XI.
In the heart of defence, Vrba is clearly still undecided on his regulars – Tomas Sivok, Michal Kadlec and Roman Hubnik have all started two of the last three friendlies after the former two got the nod yesterday. Given that the Czechs have a single clean sheet in 22 matches, it’s fair to say that most will be giving their backline a wide berth anyway. Granted, yesterday’s result wasn’t helped by the dismissal of Theodor Gebre Selassie, though, with the left-back receiving his marching orders on the hour mark.
Czech Republic XI: Cech; Kaderabek (Limbersky (46), Sivok, Kadlec (Suchy 46), Gabre Selassie; Pavelka (Plasil 46), Darida; Sural (Skalak 46), Rosicky, Krejci (Pudil 71); Necid (Skoda 79)
