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Ukraine take on England in the UEFA EURO 2020 quarter-final in Rome on Saturday 3 July at 21:00 CET.
Ukraine vs England: click for live coverage
What’s the story?
Ukraine may be entering uncharted territory, but after a battling win over Sweden in the round of 16 they are unlikely to be fazed by a first EURO quarter-final appearance. Group stage defeats against the Netherlands and Austria are long since forgotten; this is a team riding high after Artem Dovbyk’s late strike in Glasgow proved they are a side that “can achieve our goals”, according to Oleksandr Zinchenko.
England have become experts at thwarting other teams’ plans, however, and kept a fourth straight clean sheet in their last-16 triumph against Germany on Tuesday. Raheem Sterling scored his third goal of the tournament and Harry Kane opened his EURO 2020 account, suggesting the Three Lions have found the right balance. The prospect of a return to Wembley for the semi-finals and final is no little extra incentive for Gareth Southgate’s side.
Where to watch the game on TV
Fans can find their local UEFA EURO 2020 broadcast partner(s) here.
Predicted line-ups
Ukraine: Bushchan; Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Kryvtsov, Matviyenko, Zinchenko; Sydorchuk, Stepanenko, Shaparenko; Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk
Out: Besedin
Misses next match if booked: Dovbyk, Shaparenko, Sydorchuk, Yarmolenko
England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Henderson, Phillips; Saka, Mount, Sterling; Kane.
Misses next match if booked: Foden, Maguire, Phillips, Rice
Reporters’ views
Bogdan Buga, Ukraine reporter: It will be a special night for Ukraine’s two best players at this EURO, West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko and Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko, and also for coach Andriy Shevchenko, who has had homes in Kyiv and London for many years. The former Chelsea striker said anything beyond the group stage “would be a bonus for Ukraine”, so they come to Rome triumphant already. The pressure is off; expect brave, unfettered football as they bid to make history again.
Simon Hart, England reporter: After the intense effort, excitement and emotion of that long-awaited knockout win over Germany, England must refocus for a different kind of challenge against Ukraine – a match they enter as strong favourites. They will be high on confidence but, amid soaring expectations, Southgate warned on Tuesday evening of a “dangerous moment” for “the feeling around the country that we’ve only got to turn up to win the thing”. On the tactical side, it will be intriguing to see if Southgate sticks with his back three or reverts to a four as England bid for a first EURO semi-final since 1996.
View from the camps
Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine coach: “England are a great team, they have a deep bench, an outstanding coaching staff and we are fully aware how tough this game is going to be. They are incredibly difficult to score against but their strength shouldn’t scare us. It should motivate us because everything is possible in football as in life and we will play our hearts out to give our fans even more to cheer about.”
Gareth Southgate, England coach: “When we got in the dressing room [after beating Germany] we were talking about Saturday already. It was an immense performance but emotionally and physically at a cost. We have to make sure we recover well and that mentally, we are in the right space. We know it’s going to be an immense challenge from hereon.”
Form guide (most recent first)
Ukraine: WLWLWW
England: WWDWWW
