The bottom line is that England have only won one of their five Euro 2024 matches in normal time. After defeating Serbia in their opening group game, there have been draws against Denmark, Slovenia, Slovakia and Switzerland. In the case of the latter two, they scored equalisers before finding a way through to the next stage.
Gareth Southgate is unrepentant with the tactics deployed at the tournament, although England operated with a back three against the Swiss and perhaps we’ll see a similar formation in Dortmund. Luke Shaw may start his first game in Germany, with Marc Guehi also in line to return to the starting line-up after suspension.
It could be a tight and tense encounter, with Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Ake helping to make the Dutch defence fairly solid, while Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo is the joint-leading scorer at the tournament and he should pose a threat on the left, although Ronald Koeman might look to deploy a more conservative approach in a game of this magnitude.
It will be interesting to see whether Wout Weghorst starts the game after a strong substitute appearance against the Turks, with the draw looking like an attractive bet considering what’s at stake. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the clash ends all square and we could see a decent number of bookings to ensure that the scoreline is kept low.