England – Slovakia

England should beat Slovaks in first round of playoffs

The England national team was among the top-ranked teams at the end of the group stage of the European Championship. However, what makes the situation with the Three Lions unique is that they have become almost the most criticised team of the EURO. The extreme pragmatism inherent in Gareth Southgate's team irritates not only English fans, but also neutral football fans who expected to see an outstanding performance from the glorious national team. Especially if we take into account England's long bench and its highest transfer value among all participants of the championship. Specialised resources estimate this national team at one and a half billion euros. The upcoming opponent of the English has the cost of the squad ten times less, but the fear of the "three lions" should cause serious concern. Bookmakers have identified Gareth Southgate's wards as favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.44 on their victory. The English started their EURO tournament journey with a match against the Serbs. Despite a 1-0 victory, even then the Three Lions' performance caused serious complaints. The number of shots on goal from both sides was one of the lowest in the history of European championships. Some publications recalled Ibrahimovic's words about another situation, but applied it to the English team: "Southgate sits behind the wheel of a Ferrari, but drives it like a Fiat". The veracity of this phrase was confirmed in England's subsequent games against Denmark and Slovenia. It would seem that with such a squad such opponents should be crushed, but even with a draw, the English did not bother to go for the win. The match with the Scandinavians ended with the score 1:1, with the Balkans - 0:0. Slovakia started their tournament journey with a dramatic victory over Belgium. In the status of an underdog, the team not only scored first to the Belgians, but also kept the advantage despite the goals scored by Lukaku with infringements of rules. The next match Slovaks lost to Ukraine, and then "painted" a peace with Romania, which suited both opponents. Such results show that Slovakia's team is quite mediocre. England is capable of beating their opponents in regulation time even on class.