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England Under-21s will be looking to extend their perfect start to the tournament when they take on Portugal on Sunday afternoon in the quarter finals.
England Under-21s
Lee Carsley’s side have been magnificent at this tournament so far and despite making eight changes to the starting XI, the former midfielder will be delighted to see his side ease past Germany and keep yet another clean sheet. The Young Lions are yet to concede at this tournament with James Trafford having kept three consecutive shutouts.
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Carsley has some major decisions to make ahead of this quarter-final tie with the likes of Harvey Elliott, Charlie Cresswell, Jacob Ramsey and Cameron Archer having produced decent displays against the Germans. It’s a pleasing dilemma to have and Carsley will have a huge array of talent at his disposal if he is required to make mid-game changes.
England have won each of their three matches by the same score-line so far (2-0) and have been the better side in each of those outings. Nevertheless, they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas yet and there is still work to do.
By finishing top of their group, they have avoided a potentially tricky tie with hosts and surprise package Georgia and although it’ll be far from straightforward against a lively Portugal outfit, they have undoubtedly avoided a potential banana skin.
Portugal Under-21s
Portugal made a worryingly slow start to the tournament, however, they managed to claw their way through to the quarter finals in dramatic fashion. Drawn in a tough group alongside Belgium, the Netherlands and hosts Georgia, Rui Jorge’s side had to ride their luck at times and rely on results elsewhere to go their way. A last-gasp Tiago Dantas spot-kick against Belgium was enough to send them through and knock the Young Devils out of the competition.
Although they were forced to play second fiddle to hosts Georgia in Group A, the success of their qualifying campaign shows that they cannot be underestimated.
Midfielder Joao Neves possesses extraordinary technique whereas Fabio Silva is extremely dangerous going forward. Nevertheless, Portugal have looked sloppy at the back and they gifted a goal to Belgium in their final group game. England will look to exploit this weakness.
The Portuguese players were understandably ecstatic after making it through to the knock-out stages of the competition, however, they must quickly re-focus on this upcoming clash against one of the standout sides in the competition so far.
Head to Head
These two sides are fairly familiar foes and have faced one another on numerous occasions. They previously at the last European Championship (although there were no spectators present due to COVID restrictions). Portugal ran out 2-0 winners that day with Dany Mota and Trincao scoring the goals.
Portugal were also victorious back in 2015 and have won three of the last four meetings between this pair. England’s last victory in this fixture came in 2014 during an international friendly. Danny Ings scored two of the three goals in that game.
Key Betting Stats
- England are the only side at the tournament yet to concede a goal
- Only France (7) have scored more goals than England (6) so far
- Portugal have averaged more bookings than any other side in the tournament
- Only Switzerland and Spain have picked up fewer bookings than England so far.
- Morgan Gibbs-White has looked very impressive so far, providing two assists.
- 68% of England’s goals have arrived before the 50th They were 2 up by HT in their previous contest.
- England have averaged the joint-fewest corners (5.33 per game) at the tournament, alongside Israel.
Match Prediction
Portugal will be tricky opposition and they have some hugely talented players. However, there appears to be something special about this England side and they should be able to continue their ascendancy. They had the luxury of making changes for their last contest and should be reap the rewards.
Winning Combo
England to Win and Under 3.5 Goals
Odds – 9/5 with Betfair
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