Having switched to a wing-back system for the last-16 victory against Germany, Gareth Southgate has reverted to a back four for England’s quarter-final clash with Ukraine this evening.
There are two changes from the Three Lions side that beat the Germans 2-0, as Kieran Trippier (€5.2m) and Bukayo Saka (€6.6m) drop out. A “slight knock” rules the Arsenal attacker Saka out of the matchday squad.
Mason Mount (€7.1m) is recalled after a Covid-19 isolation interrupted his tournament, while Manchester United’s newest signing Jadon Sancho (€9.5m) earns his first European Championship start.
“I think Jadon over the last seven days has trained (at) the best level in the time (he’s been) with us. It looks like Ukraine are going to have five at the back. With changing to a back four, we feel to have a right-footer on that side (is important) to really stretch the game. We can’t keep everyone happy but Jadon Sancho’s profile for this game – we need one-versus-one specialists – he has got that ability. – Gareth Southgate
They are joined in attack by Harry Kane (€11.6m) and Raheem Sterling (€9.8m) – England’s two most-selected players in the official EURO 2020 Fantasy game – while Declan Rice (€5.6m) and Kalvin Phillips (€5.4m) will anchor the midfield.
Jordan Pickford (€5.8m), who is yet to concede a goal at EURO 2020, is protected by a four-man defence of Luke Shaw (€6.2m), Harry Maguire (€5.6m), John Stones (€5.8m) and Kyle Walker (€5.6m).
Jack Grealish (€7.8m) is on the bench again after starring against Germany as a substitute.
Andriy Shevchenko has made one change to the Ukraine XI that beat Sweden 2-1 after extra time in the round of 16.
Holding midfielder Taras Stepanenko (€5.5m) is replaced by full-back Vitaliy Mykolenko (€4.5m).
It is expected that Ukraine will remain in a 3-5-2 system, with Mykolenko slotting in at left wing-back and Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zincheko (€5.6m) moving into a midfield role.
West Ham winger Andriy Yarmolenko (€8.7m) is set to join Roman Yaremchuk (€7.5m) in a two-man forward line. Ruslan Malinovskyi (€7.0m) is not part of the Ukraine matchday squad.
“We know the threat of the dangerous players (Ukraine) have. We’ve got to be prepared for that. We’ve got to be patient at the right times because they’ll defend in depth but we’ve got to move the ball quickly and also make the type of runs in behind, the short runs, and use the width really well to try to break them down.” – Gareth Southgate
Ukraine XI: (3-5-2) Bushchan; Matviyenko, Kryvtsov, Zabarnyi; Mykolenko, Zinchenko, Sydorchuk, Shaparenko, Karavaev; Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk.
England XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Shaw, Maguire, Stones, Walker; Rice, Phillips; Sterling, Mount, Sancho; Kane.
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