The English have a 1-0 win against Serbia and a 1-1 draw against Denmark. The “Three Lions” were booed by their own fans in Frankfurt for the draw against Denmark. Southgate criticized the physical condition of his players after a long season. “We can’t press as high as we did in qualifying, for example,” explained the coach, who has a lot of work ahead of him. “We need to keep the ball better and control the build-up play better. Then we will have to defend less and have more confidence.”

Changes in the starting lineup are expected. Southgate took Trent Alexander-Arnold off early against Denmark, who is struggling in the unfamiliar position in midfield. The offensive stars Kane, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden have also not performed very convincingly so far. Kane, who suffered a back injury in May, said he is absolutely fit. “I think I can play all the games fully.”

Third matchday

Tuesday, 9 p.m. (live on ORF1):

England – Slovenia

Stadium Cologne, SR Turpin (FRA)

Possible setups:

England: Pickford – Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier – Gallagher, Rice – Saka, Bellingham, Foden – Kane

Slovenia: Oblak – Karnicnik, Drkusic, Bijol, Janza – Stojanovic, Gnezda Cerin, Elsnik, Mlakar – Sporar, Sesko

High expectations

Another issue in the team is the enormous pressure of expectations. “We are trying desperately to make our country proud,” explained Declan Rice. “We really want to go out there and give people memories to last a lifetime. Sometimes I feel like we put too much pressure on ourselves.” The Arsenal player understands that the English team is measured by goals and titles. “If you look at our front four (Foden, Kane, Saka and Jude Bellingham, ed.), they have scored over 100 goals this year. Of course the expectations are high.”

The same applies to the players themselves. “Of course people expect us to finish first in the group. We expect that too,” said Kane. If that doesn’t happen and the English finish second in the group, they will face Germany on Saturday. That would be “no reason for us to panic,” said the Bayern Munich striker.

Slovenia senses opportunity

Opponents Slovenia narrowly missed a win against Serbia in extra time, which would have been the country’s first victory at a European Championship. They now want to make up for that against England, with hopes resting primarily on former Salzburg and now Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko. “They’re not at their best, they’re still great of course, but I think now is the best opportunity to play against them and show them what we can do,” said Sesko, referring to the English.

So far, coach Matjaz Kek’s team has recorded two 1:1 draws against Denmark and Serbia. “We have proven that we deserve to be there,” said Kek. “I am convinced that this team will get its due.” READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

Third matchday

Tuesday, 9 p.m.:

Denmark – Serbia

Munich, SR Letexier (FRA)

Possible setups:

Denmark: Schmeichel – Andersen, Christensen, Vestergaard – Mähle, Hjulmand, Hojbjerg, Kristiansen – Eriksen – Hojlund, Wind

Serbia: Rajkovic – Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic – Zivkovic, Ilic, Lukic, Gacinovic – Tadic – Vlahovic, Mitrovic

Denmark is warned

In the parallel match in Munich, the Danes would definitely advance with a win against Serbia and would also have a chance with a draw, while Serbia must win. After the surprising and disappointing draw against Slovenia in the first group match, the Danes also achieved a 1:1 draw against England. The performance against the group favorites and European runners-up makes them confident.

However, Kasper Hjulmand warned of the physical strength of the Serbs around Salzburg giant Strahinja Pavlovic. “There are areas in their game where they are really good, we have to limit these as much as possible. We have to minimize their crosses and set pieces. It’s about having the ball a lot, like we did against England, so that we eliminate their greatest strengths,” explained the team manager.

Declaration of war from the Serbs

The Serbs also kept their chances of promotion alive with a late equaliser against Slovenia. A win against Denmark would probably put them in second place in the group. Denmark has “a good team, top players, regular players in big leagues,” said team manager Dragan Stojkovic, and was combative.

“Our only goal is to beat them. It won’t be easy, but we have the chance to decide our own fate. We have no options, our backs are against the wall. If we want to progress, we have to win,” said Stojkovic.

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