Euro 2024 friendlies: TAA in midfield + €4.0m defender impresses

Our coverage of the pre-European Championship friendlies gets underway today.

Here, we report on the major Fantasy talking points from Monday’s action, involving England, Germany, Ukraine, Croatia, Scotland and Albania.

Premium Members of Fantasy Football Scout may not know this but they can get official Opta data on the majority of the pre-tournament friendlies taking place this week.

In the Match Centre, click on ‘International Friendlies’ in the drop-down menu (seen below) to view the latest matches.

It’s all part of the offering that subscribers to our site get, with Euro 2024 qualifying and tournament data still to come.

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• READ MORE: Euro 2024 Fantasy team previews: England
• READ MORE: Euro 2024 Fantasy team previews: Germany
• READ MORE: Euro 2024 Fantasy team previews: Croatia
• READ MORE: Euro 2024 Fantasy team previews: Scotland

ENGLAND 3-0 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

• Goals: Cole Palmer (pen), Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harry Kane
• Assists: Ezri Konsa, Jack Grealish, Jarrod Bowen

England downed Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 at St James’ Park, thanks to goals from Cole Palmer (€7.5m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (€5.5m) and substitute Harry Kane (€11.0m).

An experimental England XI, which will likely be very different from the one that will start at the Euros, stepped up after a poor first half when Palmer converted from the spot.

Ezri Konsa (€4.5m), who played in three different defensive positions (right-back, left-back and centre-back), was hauled down in the box to claim the assist.

Seven of England’s last 12 goals in all competitions have now come via set pieces.

Meanwhile, with several key players out, such as Jude Bellingham (€9.5m) and Bukayo Saka (€8.5m), Gareth Southgate took the opportunity to try out some new ideas. That included Alexander-Arnold in central midfield (more on that later) and Eberechi Eze (€5.5m) playing off the left.

The latter’s directness particularly caught the eye in a lively first-half showing.

“Eze played with that freedom and swagger that he plays for his club with. It’s great to see a young player come into our environment and be able to do that. You saw that ability to glide past people in the middle of the pitch and the power he has as well.” – Gareth Southgate on Eberechi Eze

However, Alexander-Arnold was clearly England’s standout performer.

Both in central midfield and after switching to right-back for the final half an hour, his passing range was excellent. Overall, he racked up five key passes and got his third England goal with a brilliant volley at the back post.

If Southgate plays a 4-2-3-1 formation v Serbia on 16 June, Alexander-Arnold will compete with the likes of Conor Gallagher (€6.5m) and Kobbie Mainoo (€5.5m) for a place alongside Declan Rice (€6.5m) in the pivot.

A scruffy Kane strike later put Bosnia to the sword. The Bayern Munich man looked typically sharp off the bench, registering five shots in just 28 minutes. We’ll get to see more of him on Friday when England host Iceland in their final friendly before Euro 2024.

“Our plan was half an hour today and he’ll start on Friday. He’s trained all week. He looks in good shape.” – Gareth Southgate on Harry Kane

England XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Konsa, Dunk (Gomez 73), Guehi (Branthwaite 62), Trippier (Wharton 62); Alexander-Arnold, Gallagher; Bowen, Palmer (Maddison 61), Eze (Grealish 63); Watkins (Kane 62)

GERMANY 0-0 UKRAINE

Euro 2024 hosts Germany were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw by Ukraine, despite racking up 27 shots.

Ilkay Gundogan (€7.0m) missed a key chance in the first half, while substitute Maximilian Beier (€6.5m) struck the bar, but the Germans lacked a cutting edge throughout, with Kai Havertz (€7.5m) often isolated up front.

Despite underwhelming, Julian Nagelsmann was quick to defend Gundogan.

“Many people guess a lot of things. Ilkay played well. He has a lot of stress in the bones. We need him for the tournament. He can give us a lot of rhythm. He gives us peace and structure and is a dangerous player.” – Julian Nagelsmann on Ilkay Gundogan

There were some decent performances, however.

Florian Wirtz (€7.5m) looked dangerous up until his half-time substitution, while Maximilian Mittelstadt (€4.0m) created the most chances in the match (five).

The budget defender also took a few corners and received 46 passes in the final third, more than any other player except team-mate Pascal Gross (€7.0m), who deputised for Toni Kroos (€6.5m) in the engine room.

As such, Mittelstadt looks like a great attacking prospect at Euro 2024.

Above: Maximilian Mittelstadt’s touch heatmap v Ukraine

As for Ukraine, Serhiy Rebrov’s side frustrated the Germans all night and proved they could defend, coming away with a well-fought draw. 

Goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin (€5.0m) was excellent, with Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin (€4.5m) rested alongside fellow UEFA Champions League finalists Kroos, Antonio Rudiger (€5.5m), Nico Schlotterbeck (€4.0m) and Niclas Fullkrug (€7.0m).

Germany XI (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Kimmich, Anton, Tah (Koch 60), Mittelstadt; Andrich (Pavlovic 71), Gross; Musiala (Beier 59), Gundogan (Fuhrich 46), Wirtz (Undav 46); Havertz (Muller 59)

Ukraine XI (5-4-1): Trubin; Konoplia (Tymchyk 80), Zabarnyi, Svatok, Matviyenko, Zinchenko; Tsyhankov (Yarmolenko 64), Stepanenko (Brazhko 64), Shaparenko (Sudakov 73), Mudryk (Zubkov 64); Yaremchuk (Dovbyk 64)

CROATIA 3-0 NORTH MACEDONIA

• Goals: Lovro Majer x2, Marco Pasalic
• Assists: Bruno Petkovic, Mateo Kovacic, Ante Budimer

Croatia beat North Macedonia 3-0 in Rijeka, as their Euro 2024 preparations stepped up.

Even without Luka Modric (€7.5m) and Marcelo Brozovic (€6.0m), it was a comfortable win for the hosts.

Lovro Majer (€6.5m) put them ahead from a free-kick, before adding a second after some nice link-up play with Bruno Petkovic (€6.0m). Majer also took a few corners and registered six ball recoveries, but it is still unclear if he will start in Germany.

Marco Pasalic (€6.0m) later added a third.

Croatia will play Portugal on Saturday, which will be their last test before the Euros. By which point the likes of Josko Gvardiol (€5.5m), Modric and Brozovic should be available for selection.

Croatia XI (4-2-3-1): Livakovic; Juranovic, Vida, Erlic (Pongracic 67), Sosa; Baturina (Pasalic 67), Kovacic (Sucic 46); Majer, Kramaric (Ivanusec 55), Perisic (Pjaca 60); Petkovic (Budimer 59)

GIBRALTAR 0-2 SCOTLAND

• Goals: Ryan Christie, Che Adams
• Assists: Lawrence Shankland, John McGinn

Scotland recorded a 2-0 friendly win away to Gibraltar on Monday, with Ryan Christie (€6.0m) and Che Adams (€5.5m) on the scoresheet.

This wasn’t a particularly good performance from Steve Clarke’s side, however. Like Germany, they lacked a cutting edge in the final third and really should have made it a lot more comfortable than it actually was, despite dominating possession.

Liam Cooper (€4.5m) racked up an impressive seven ball recoveries but was later forced off with a knee injury.

There were several positives, however.

Andrew Robertson (€5.5m) put plenty of dangerous deliveries into the box and got forward at will, registering eight key passes and 17 attempted crosses.

Meanwhile, Adams got a goal off the bench and Lawrence Shankland (€5.5m) claimed an assist, with the striker spot up for grabs following Lyndon Dykes’ (€6.0m) injury.

“The amount of chances in the game, we did enough to score goals. We could tighten up on the chances we did create. But we came here, got two goals and got a clean sheet, nice and positive. One of the reasons I sat upstairs was to see things from a different perspective. When you’re on the touchline, you don’t see everything. I have a better idea [of what my squad will look like] now.

“I changed to a back four, we normally do a back three or five. You’re playing against a deep block, the look upstairs was not for the games in Germany. But, hopefully, I’m the coach after Germany so it was a thought for that. There will be more rotation for Finland. More minutes if we need to do that.” – Steve Clarke

Scotland XI (4-2-3-1): Clark; McCrorie, Porteous, Hanley (Cooper 46, McKenna 77), Robertson (Tierney 66); Gilmour (Jack 73), McLean (McGregor 73); Christie, McGinn, Forrest (Adams 66); Shankland

ALBANIA 3-0 LIECHTENSTEIN

• Goals: Armando Broja, Jasir Asani, Ernest Muci
• Assists: Nedim Bajrami, Jasir Asani

Albania beat Liechtenstein 3-0, thanks to goals from Armando Broja, Jasir Asani (€5.5m) and Ernest Muci (€5.5m).

With Sokol Cikalleshi (€6.0m) absent, Broja got the nod up front and scored, although the Chelsea forward is yet to be added to the official Fantasy game.

Still, Asani looks to be the top Albanian asset to own, having plundered three goals and two assists during qualifying. He added another two attacking returns here and also took a few corners.

Budget backline options Etrit Berisha (€4.0m) and Ismael Ismajli (€4.0m) also featured from the off.

Albania XI (4-3-3): Berisha; Mitaj, Ismajli (Mihaj 46), Ajeti (Kumbulla 62), Balliu; Gjasula (Laci 46), Asllani, Bajrami; Broja (Manaj 62), Hoxha (Muci 46), Asani (Berisha 76)

STAY TUNED FOR MORE EURO 2024 COVERAGE!

A reminder that we’ll be covering the European Championship in great detail this summer.

Part of that coverage will be the usual team-by-team guides on all competing 24 nations in Euro 2024.

But we’ll also have team reveals, strategy guides and much more. The official UEFA Fantasy game will be the main game we’re covering, which you read about below:

How to play UEFA Euro 2024 Fantasy: Rules, chips, scoring + subs

There’ll also be £500+ worth of prizes if you join our mini-league! Click the below to sign up:

Join our Euro 2024 mini-league and win a share of £500+

If you want to be part of our coverage and are a fan of one of the countries competing, do get involved via the below:

Euro 2024 Fantasy: Get involved with our coverage!