England v Iceland, Monday June 27
Nice, Live on ITV - 8pm
England face Iceland tonight in the Round of 16 at the Allianz Riviera, Nice (ITV, 8pm) for the chance to play France in the quarter finals of Euro 2016.
England must still be kicking themselves after a lacklustre display against Slovakia in their final group game cost them the opportunity of finishing top of Group B. A performance which seemed careless at the time now looks downright disastrous as they find themselves in the same side of the group as France, Italy, Spain and Germany.
On the plus side, the draw for the Round of 16 does at least appear to have been relatively kind to Roy’s Boys, handing them a match against Iceland, a team sitting 23 places below them in the FIFA rankings.
Roy Hodgson looks set to tinker with his side once again ahead of this one, where having made six changes ahead of the Slovakia game he looks to revert back to a few of the players who started England’s opening two Group B matches. Wayne Rooney, Dele Alli and Harry Kane all look set to return to the first XI and there’s even talk of Raheem Sterling coming back from the doldrums to start the game tonight.
Iceland remain unbeaten in Euro 2016, their first major tournament, and qualified for the Round of 16 with an identical record to England: 2 draws and a dramatic last minute win. Unlike England, they’ve managed to score in each of their group matches and, like a early 2000’s Stoke City, look a constant threat, especially from set-pieces and long throw-ins.
In addition to Aron Gunarsson’s long throws, England will be only too well aware of the threat posed from set pieces by Swansea City’s Gylfi Sigurdsson. As in their group stages to date, where they have faced a whopping 16.7 shots per match (only Slovakia have faced shots at a higher rate), Iceland will try to soak up pressure before counter-attacking quickly on the break.
England haven’t looked entirely convincing in a defensive sense to date and though most people expect them to win, it wouldn’t be a great surprise to see them concede at some point. The 2-1 scoreline at looks very tempting.
The bet which really catches the eye is for the well rested Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney both to score, alongside a goal from Gylfi Sigurdsson – all three to score anytime is a whopping
Recommended bets
- England To Win 2-1 and W Rooney To Score Anytime @
- Gylfi Sigurdsson to score anytime & England to win @
- G Sigurdsson to score from outside the box in 90 mins play @
- View the full match betting market here!
Euro 2016 Tournament Data widget: