As we continue to lunge ever deeper into the knockout phase of Euro 2020, at All Leeds TV we're continuing to monitor the progress of our remaining two Leeds United representatives throughout the tournament, previewing the upcoming Quarter-Final fixtures for each individual player still flying the flag for their nations. You can expect to be signposted in the direction of all the relevant games, and inundated with the appropriate facts and figures to properly prepare you for another exciting round of matches. Can either of our remaining Leeds duo reach the semi-finals? And, who can they expect to face?
Quarter-Final's
The full list of Quarter-Final's fixtures is as follows, with games featuring Leeds United representatives marked out in bold;
Friday 2nd July
Switzerland v Spain (5pm ITV) Saint Petersburg Belgium v Italy (8pm BBC One) Glasgow
Saturday 3rd July
Czech Republic v Denmark (5pm ITV) Baku Ukraine v England (8pm BBC) Rome
Switzerland v Spain - Diego Llorente (Tournament Minutes: 0)
Spain booked their place in the Quarter-Final's in the most dramatic of fashion's, needing extra time to edge an eight-goal thriller with Croatia in Copenhagen on Monday.
Spain's 5-3 victory over Croatia in the Round of 16, coupled with their 5-0 thrashing of Slovakia in their final group game, makes Las Rojas the first side in Euro's history to register back-to-back five-goal hauls.
Leeds United defender Diego Llorente was an unused substitute yet again for Luis Enrique's side, and is therefore still yet to feature at the tournament. Although, Spain's progress to the latter stages does extend his opportunity for a major tournament debut in the coming days.
Alvaro Morata, Pablo Sarabia and Ferran Torres all doubled their tallies for the tournament against Croatia, as Spain became the highest-scoring team at the Euro's with eleven goals in four games (Denmark & Italy joint 2nd with nine goals). Meanwhile, Unai Simon still has two clean sheets to his name, although will be looking to recover from any potential knock Croatia's opening goal will have given to his confidence.
A Quarter-Final meeting with Switzerland, conqueror's of World Champions France, in Saint Petersburg on Friday lies in wait for Spain, before a potential Semi-Final meeting with either Belgium or Italy (who meet in Munich in the later Friday evening kick-off).
Switzerland sprung the major surprise of the Round of 16 by eliminating tournament favourites France in Bucharest on Monday. Vladimir Petkovic's side came from 3-1 down with ten minutes to go, to draw level and hold the French in extra time, eventually winning on penalties.
The Swiss sealed their place in the last sixteen by qualifying as one of four best-performing 3rd-placed finishers with victory over Turkey in their final group game, after taking a point from Wales, following their opening day defeat to Italy.
Switzerland and Spain last met in the UEFA Nations League only a year ago, with Spain taking four points from a possible six.
The two sides have met on 22 previous occasions, with the Swiss only ever recording one victory over Spain. However, that victory did come in the pairs last meeting at a major tournament, when Switzerland beat Spain 1-0 in the group stages at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Although, Spain went on to win that tournament.
According to the FIFA World Ranking's, Spain are the 6th best side in the world, seven places above Switzerland, who sit 13th.
Ukraine v England
Gareth Southgate's England side continued to vanquish his Euro 1996 demons, as they finally beat their old nemesis Germany 2-0 at Wembley on Tuesday, to progress to the Quarter-Final's of Euro 2020.
Jordan Pickford's fourth consecutive clean sheet means the Three Lions boast the meanest defence at the tournament.
Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips completed another full ninety minutes, and remains the only outfield English player to have played every minute of the tournament thus far.
Harry Kane finally added his name to the scoresheet against the German's, but Raheem Sterling leads the way for England with three goals. Meanwhile, Pickford's four clean sheets is the best of any goalkeeper at Euro 2020.
England's route to the final now comprises of a Quarter-Final meeting with Ukraine in Rome on Saturday, before a potential Semi-Final hosted at Wembley versus either Denmark or Czech Republic.
Ukraine sealed their place in the Quarter-Final's with the latest goal in European Championship's history, cruelly knocking out ten-men Sweden with a 121st-minute winner at Hampden Park on Tuesday.
Having qualified as one of four best-performing 3rd-placed finishers, the Round of 16 victory was strangely, only Ukraine's second game without defeat in the tournament so far, having been beaten by both the Netherlands and Austria in the group stage. A narrow win over North Macedonia was eventually enough to see them scrape through to the knockout phase.
England and Ukraine last met in 2013, when the two sides took an even share of the points in World Cup 2014 Qualfiying, drawing both matches home-and-away.
The two sides have met on seven occasions, with England boasting the better head-to-head record. England and Ukraine have faced each other at a major tournament on one previous occasion, a group stage fixture at Euro 2012, which was won 1-0 by the Three Lions. Ukraine's only previous win over England came in 2009, when current manager Andriy Shevchenko captained his country to victory in Dnipro.
England are currently ranked 4th in the FIFA World Ranking's, whilst Ukraine sit 24th, making England clear favourites.
So, that's your preview of the upcoming Quarter-Final's fixtures at Euro 2020. Check back at the end of this round of fixtures to see how our boys got on in our Euro 2020 Review, and keep an eye out for our weekly preview of the semi-final's next week.
We've got your Euro 2020 covered on AllLeedsTV.
コメント