England, Denmark and Slovenia reached the Euro ’24 knockout stages on Tuesday, as both Matchday 3 games in Group C ended goalless.
We’ll address the main Fantasy talking points from these fixtures in this article, including Jude Bellingham‘s (€9.5m) poor underlying stats.
Check out our Scoreboard piece for all the goals, assists and stats.
ENGLAND 0-0 SLOVENIA
THREE LIONS FRUSTRATED
England produced another underwhelming display against Slovenia, but it was still enough to top Group C.
They will now face one of the best third-placed teams, potentially the Netherlands, on Sunday.
The Three Lions dominated the ball, with 73.1% possession, but managed just three shots on target and 0.80 expected goals (xG). It means they generated only 2.19 xG across the entire group stage, one of the lowest figures in the tournament.
Bukayo Saka (€8.5m) had a goal ruled out for offside, but England lacked creativity, despite Gareth Southgate’s best efforts.
Kobbie Mainoo (€5.5m) came on for Conor Gallagher (€6.5m) at half-time, and from that point onwards, England did have a little more about them.
In general, the attacking changes – Mainoo, Cole Palmer (€7.5m) and Anthony Gordon (€7.5m) – worked well, something Southgate touched on after full-time:
“He did very good [Palmer]. He finds space well and he makes chances and we were backing him to score at the end.
“They are young players and we are blooding them in a difficult environment. They had a good impact for us and did good things for us. Anthony Gordon, Cole Palmer, Kobbie Mainoo, it was a really good move. We have to build on that. There were a lot of things to build on from tonight.” – Gareth Southgate
BELLINGHAM’S STATS
Still, England were hardly pulling up any trees, with Jude Bellingham poor.
The Real Madrid man won the Player of the Match award in England’s opening game win over Serbia, scoring the winning goal, but has failed to register a single shot since:
Above: Jude Bellingham’s underlying goal threat stats at Euro 2024
Bellingham has struggled creatively, too, with just one key pass, so his stats are a real concern given his premium price tag.
England’s defence did at least stand firm, keeping their second clean sheet of the tournament, whilst restricting Slovenia to just 0.15 xG.
Luke Shaw (€5.0m) was back on the substitutes bench, although it is still unclear exactly how close to a return he is.
Having topped Group C, England have landed on the favourable side of the draw, but they’ll need to play much better in the knockout stages.
MORE POINTS FOR KARNICNIK
As for Slovenia, they are also going through but will have to wait until the group stage is complete to see who they play in the round of 16.
Against England, they looked reasonably solid in their 4-4-2 low block but offered very little in attack.
It seems to suit Zan Karnicnik (€5.0m), however, who is now the top-scoring player in Euro 2024 Fantasy.
Another eight points on Tuesday took him to 26 overall, three clear of second-placed Jamal Musiala (€8.5m).
Seven of those points have come from ball recoveries alone:
DENMARK 0-0 SERBIA
ERIKSEN’S THREAT
Denmark were held to a goalless draw with Serbia but progressed in second place thanks to fewer yellow cards, leaving Slovenia third.
Kasper Hjulmand’s side will now face hosts Germany in the last 16 on Sunday, having drawn all three matches in Group C.
Against Serbia, Christian Eriksen (€7.0m) added another two chances created to his tally, which now stands at 13 overall, the most by any player at Euro ’24.
He’s also attempted 10 shots, so it’s clear where their threat is coming from.
Eriksen won the Player of the Match award here but, like England, there is a lack of cutting-edge ahead of him.
Rasmus Hojlund (€7.5m) started with Jonas Wind (€7.0m) in support, but neither player made it to 60 minutes.
Denmark picked up a clean sheet, however, with Jannik Vestergaard (€4.5m) collecting three additional points for ball recoveries.
Serbia, who knew they would be eliminated if they did not win, had just one shot on target and that came in second-half stoppage time.
