Now just days away from the delayed kick off of the Euro 2020 tournament and there’s no slowing down of major football headlines.
Live scores will no doubt be high on the list of most searched for football terms over the coming weeks, but with swaps and exchanges still happening in teams even now, it is going to be a hard tournament to call as to who will emerge victorious.
Maintaining all the original branding from the original 2020 dates, the European tournament is all set and ready to go, but what’s going on behind the scenes as fixture dates loom ahead?
Injured Trent Alexander-Arnold out of England line up
Seemingly fit and ready to take on the upcoming battle to win the group, Trent Alexander-Arnold dealt a blow to the England squad as he suffered a thigh injury during the recent friendly against Austria.
With the opening game against Croatia coming up soon, Gareth Southgate has selected Brighton defender Ben White to replace the Liverpool player as part of his team of 26.
Capable of playing for both defence and midfield, the 23 year old player was reportedly called by Southgate himself to relay the news.
According to leading news channels, Southgate made the headlines himself as he and Kick It Out chief executive Tony Burnett made public appeals to the general public in response to negative reactions during the Romania game. Telling fans to ‘drown out the idiots’, administrators behind the scenes have called the booing a ‘racist act’.
Who Will Win the Euro 2020?
There are so many predictions and long shots for this tournament, and it is arguably one of the most unpredictable international European Championships of all time. Usually there is a clear favourite with France and Spain being the most dominant while Portugal and Germany have also taken down the title when they were favourites. However, this time around, predicting the euro 2020 winner is no easy feat. There are multiple winning candidates with England and France touted as the favourites.
And dark horses the Netherlands could surprise us, Germany could suddenly switch gears and become a rampant goal machine or Turkey’s pragmatic defence to offence style may prevail. Maybe predicting who will go out of the group stages first is the best bet for now with teams like Wales, Finland, and Scotland could go either way and have some pretty decent odds!
Scotland revved up and ready for kick off!
Also making themselves known in the same group as England, Scotland has readied themselves for the opening matches with a win against Luxembourg.
Set to play their opening fixture against the Czech Republic on June 14, Scotland won 1 – 0 against the host country when Adams won the game in the 27th minute, just moments before Vahid Selimovic was shown a red card and sent off.
Continuing the game against a 10-man squad, Scotland was continually put through the paces as Luxembourg tried to equalise. Multiple substitutions later and Steve Clarke’s team came through victorious.
France to win Again?
Even with the action already infolding on the field, the speculation is already flying around as to who will win the belated Euro 2020 tournament.
Injuries, red cards and replacements may be making the headlines, but former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has commented that he believes France has what it takes to take the trophy once again.
Currently managed by Didier Deschamps, France is renowned for being the second highest ranking country for football, behind Belgium, so the remarks of their potential success are not too far-fetched.
Adding that he feels the French team ‘have not peaked yet’, Wenger says the ‘super favourites’ will be able to continue prospering for many years to come because of their youth and energy they bring to the game. He adds that England is one of their biggest threats.