England vs Iceland Preview
It always feels a little strange when there is a gap between
the group stages and knockout rounds but fear no more. The round of 16 fixtures
begins today. Euro 2016 starts now. After reflecting on the group stages no
team has been head and shoulders over the rest, however in my opinion both Italy
and Hungary have impressed. Here are a few interesting stats about the group
stages:
·
Álvaro Morata and Gareth Bale lead the Adidas
Golden Boot table with three goals each
·
Spain's 2-1 loss to Croatia was their first
defeat in 15 EURO finals fixtures, since a 1-0 reverse against Portugal on 20
June 2004
·
Four of the five EURO finals debutants –
Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Wales – qualified for the round of 16
·
England have fielded the youngest team so far,
with an average age of 26 years, 59 days
·
69 goals have been scored so far, a rate of 1.92
per game, the lowest average for a group phase at the European Championships
since 1992 (1.75).
One thing everyone has learnt from this tournament is to always
keep watching until the very very end. 65% of the goals in the group stages
were scored in the second-half. A massive 27.5% of the goals came after the
80th minute. One of those goals was Sturridge’s late winner in the 91st
for England against Wales, which brought about the wild celebrations on the sideline
with the rest of the squad.
However, in their last
group game against Slovakia there was no rousing jubilation only more questions
and frustration. One of the main questions constantly being asked was for all
the possession England had why we could they not convert their chances. 15 attempts
against Russia, 20 attempts against Wales and 29 attempts against Slovakia
could only muster three goals.
Against Iceland the format of the game will probably be the
same like the previous group games for England, they will have a large majority
of the possession and Iceland will try and hit them on the counter or use their
set piece specialist Sigurdsson or use the threat of Gunnarsson’s long throw.
3 Key points for beating Iceland
1.
Be clinical. England are embarrassed with a host
of riches in the striker department when you compare them to Iceland. Every
chance has to be taken because as the game goes on and it stays 0-0 the more the
balance of the game will swing in the favour of Iceland
2.
Remain Patient- It can get frustrating when 11
players are all behind the ball. England need to keep continuing probing with
their passing and seeking out opportunities in any forms
3.
ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK- The relentless and
tenacious wave after wave of attack will see the Iceland goal breached!
The last time England played Iceland was way back in 2004
the final score was 6-1 and I’m predicting on Monday that it will be a high
scoring game I think England will win 3-0.
