England take on Denmark in the semi-finals of the European Championships on Wednesday, and the Three Lions will be hoping to book their place in the finals with a win here.
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Key Statistics
England have kept a clean sheet in their last 8 matches (European Championship).
England have won 7 of their last 8 matches (European Championship).
Denmark have won their last 3 matches (European Championship).
Denmark have scored at least 2 goals in their last 3 matches (European Championship).
Head to head
- England and Denmark faced each other at Euro 1992 and during the 2002 World Cup. The Three Lions drew 0-0 in Euros and won 3-0 at the World Cup. More recently, Denmark drew England 0-0 and beat them 1-0 in the UEFA Nations League.
- In Latest 6 encounters: England 2 wins; 2 draws; Denmark 2 wins; England scored 4 goals, Danes scored 6 goals.
- Till date, 21 matches: England 12 wins; 5 draws; Denmark 4 wins; England scored 36 goals, Danes scored 20 goals.
Latest Performances (without penalty shootout)
England: W-W-D-W-W-W (Goals for 9, Goals against 0).
Denmark: W-L-L-W-W-W (Goals for 13, Goals against 5).
England
The Three Lions have been outstanding in the last two rounds of the competition, and they have managed to pick up morale-boosting wins over Germany and Ukraine.
Gareth Southgate’s side will be full of confidence heading into this contest, and they will fancy their chances of a home win over Denmark.
England have been outstanding at the back this summer, and they are yet to concede a single goal in the European Championships.
It will be interesting to see if they can continue their impressive defensive performance in the semi-finals now.
Possible England starting line-ups
Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips, Mason Mount, Jadon Sancho, Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling.
We’ve got a fabulous opportunity. It’s a chance to make history as we’ve never been to a European Championship final. It’s not so much pressure for this team; it’s another challenge that they’ve got the chance to take on, and at the moment they’re rising to those challenges. We had two games with Denmark in the autumn. I knew what a good side they were before and they’ve proved that again in this tournament. It is going to be a fantastic game to be part of.
Gareth Southgate, England
Denmark
Danes have had a tough start to the tournament, especially with Christian Eriksen’s incident, but they have shown tremendous character and mental fortitude to bounce back strongly.
They are undoubtedly the dark horse of this year’s European Championships, and Denmark have what it takes to pull off an upset here.
Pierre Emile Hojbjerg and Kasper Dolberg are in impressive form, and Denmark could give England a run for their money here.
Possible Denmark starting line-ups
Kasper Schmeichel, Andreas Christensen, Simon Kjaer, Jannik Vestergaard, Jens Stryger Larsen, Thomas Delaney, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Joakim Maehle, Martin Braithwaite, Mikkel Damsgaard, Kasper Dolberg.
It’ll be like playing an away game, but that also has its own charm, so we’re actually looking forward to it. We’re happy that people will be there and that the fans are back in the stadium, though obviously we would have loved it if half the stadium was dressed in Danish colours. Our motivation is to silence the spectators, but we know it’s going to be difficult.
Kasper Hjulmand, Denmark
Probability
England : Draw : Denmark :: 56% : 26% : 18% ( in 90 minutes)
Prediction
On paper, England are the better team here, and they should be able to grind out a win in the end.
This will be a close contest between the two teams, But the away side are likely to fall short eventually.
England 2-1 Denmark