Fantasy picks
England vs Germany: With 4 games played, England are yet to concede a goal. Their defence has been rock solid and if any shot does manage to get past them, then Pickford has been up to the challenge all tournament long. Priced at 6.1 million, Luke Shaw has been starting regularly at left back and managed to grab an assist for the first goal and won the ball to pass it to grealish who gave the assist for the second.
On the other hand Raheem Sterling continues to be overlooked by managers as the Manchester City forward has now found the back of the net three times. Valued at 9.6 million he’s been the main goal scoring threat for England so far and his underlying stats show he will continue to do more of of the same.
Ukraine vs Sweden: Ukraine managed to brush past Sweden in the 120th minute of the game. Andriy Yarmolenko has been their main point of attack so far as he also managed to hit the post with a good attempt at goal. Priced at 8.7 million he has already had 2 big hauls and could be a good pick.
Manchester city left back, Zinchenko has been great so far this tournament and managed to back up his performances with a beautiful goal and a perfect assist against Sweden. Priced at 5.5 million he could be a great differential.
Disappointment of the day
Just minutes after Sterling steered in the opening goal, he managed to give the ball away in a very dangerous position to Kai Havertz who unleashed Thomas Muller through on goal. The 31 year old who is one of Germany’s most experienced players managed to fake Pickford as he sent the keeper in the wrong direction and he just had to slot it past him into the back of the net.
Unfortunately Muller made a mess of things as he managed to hit the ball just off target and gave the three lions a lifeline. The Decorated German International had been sidelined from the squad for two years and this was his perfect chance to mark his comeback with a big statement. But it wasn’t to be. As things stand it seems he might retire from International Football and it truly would be a sad way to see a true legend of the game go.
Social media moments of the day
Germany’s elimination at the hands of England marked the end of an era, as this was Joachim Low’s final game incharge of Die Manschaft and it has been reported that Toni Kroos too looks set to call it quits at the International level.
On the flip side of the coin, England and their fans were overjoyed at breaking this ‘German’ voodoo. England are on the easier side of the bracket and their prospects are looking very bright indeed.
Perhaps the ‘feel-good’ moment of the day was England manager Gareth Southgate’s post match interview. Given his history against the Germans, this game perhaps was viewed as cathartic by some and a tale of redemption by others.
Quarter finals previews
Spain vs Switzerland: Both teams are coming into this game after being on the opposite sides of 2 goal comebacks in the round of 16. Spain started this tournament on the back foot but have since managed to kick things into gear as they’ve scored 10 goals in their last two matches.
Although doing great offensively, Croatia managed to expose Spain’s leaky defence which players like Shakiri, Embolo and Seforovic will be looking to use to their advantage.
Switzerland are not lacking too far behind either, as they too managed to score six goals in their last two games. Another man that spain have to look out for is Steven Zuber as he’s currently on a hot streak being the top assister of the tournament so far. This game has all the indications that it’s going to be a high scoring encounter and although a hard choice but we choose Spain to win 3-2 and progress to the quarterfinals.
England vs Ukraine: After brushing past Germany, England fans have already begun the famous “it’s coming home” chants. It will be interesting to see whether Southgate sticks to the three at the back or switches to a back four, but that doesn’t change the fact that England have one of the best defences’ in the tournament.
Ukraine do have some fire power within their squad but they’re not expected to get past Pickford. With Sterling banging in the goals so far and a much needed Harry Kane goal, the fans will be hoping that this was a confident booster and will set their captain back to his goal scoring form. We’re predicting a 2-0 England win.
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