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The Euros 2024 are now through the group stages, with the final 16 officially drawn and starting o prepare for the knock out stages of the tournament.
England have emerged as top of the group despite a very slow start to the tournament with goals from Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham being the only entries on the scoresheet so far.
A 1-0 win over Serbia, a 1-1 draw with Denmark and a goalless draw to Slovenia was enough to lead the group and set them up against one of the third place teams that has ultimately turned out to be Solvakia.
Winning this game will see them take on either Switzerland or Italy on a journey to the final which will be avoiding the likes of Spain, Germany, Portugal and France until a potential match up in the final thanks to the way the group stages have finished.
Despite England being strong in defence thanks to impressive performances from John Stones and Marc Guehi, the Three Lions are missing their natural first choice left-back, Luke Shaw, having to rely on right-back Kieran Trippier to cover the position.
Shaw has been training individually whilst trying to overcome his injuries which have seen him side-lined for most of the Premier league season, being another name on United’s worryingly long injury list.
However, things may be looking up for the 28-year-old, with a potential return to the pitch before the tournament is over.
The Guardian Sport have reported that when asked about his return when leaving the Cologne stadium following the Slovenia game, the left-back responded with a simple “next game”.
This looks promising for Shaw’s recovery and England’s prospects in the knock-out stages with the 28-year-old being Gareth Southgate’s first choice left-back, however we’re unsure yet if he will indeed feature in the plans against Slovakia despite having returned to team training.
