Slovenia vs Denmark
First up for Group C is Slovenia vs Denmark which had some areas to offer but I believe that this is going to be the most boring group. Denmark dominated the game by playing with a 3-5-2. Creating a masterpiece of maintaining possession but it has to be said, Denmark does not offer much more. When you watch a performance like that, it seems to be identical to a rondo from the training ground but offered no teeth. Although having 16 shots, Denmark only managed to have 4 on target and expected goals of 1.66 from the 90. These statistics are very complimentary to one Denmark achieved in this game, but they also had 68% possession. It must be said that the goal comes from what I would classify as a counterattack. With Bah playing as a right wing-back, he took the throw early and Jonas Wind flicked it on first time to find Christian Eriksen who put it straight into the bottom corner.
After this, the match was quite uneventful. Denmark kept possession with the back line getting involved. The 2 people to note from the Danish team has to be Christian Eriksen and Andreas Christensen who I always seem to forget how good he is. Christensen won all of his aerial duels and displayed the ability that Barcelona love so much, completing 100% of his passes and having a calm head.
Although I have mainly spoken about Denmark, I believe that Slovenia needs a lot of praise for how they performed during the match. Knowing they would be under pressure from the first minute. They did not seem to switch on till Denmark scored. They played a well-structured 4-4-2. Preventing Rasmus Hojlund and Jonas Wind from having the ball so much, both were only able to have 1 shot on target each. Making Denmark must resort to long-range attempts.
A defensive masterclass was put on by all the back line but the 2 that need to be noted the most are Erik Janza and Jaka Bijol. Janza looked to move the ball forward whenever he had the chance but also defended solidly. Winning 100% of his ground duels and 67% of aerial duels. Attacking wise, over the 90 minutes Janza created an expected goals and expected assists of 0.86. Bijol completed 89% of his passes and completed 83% of his long ball attempts. Defensively he made 10 clearances, won 83% of his ground duels and had an all-round solid performance.
Shout out individuals: -
- Erik Janza
- Jaka Bijol
- Benjamin Sesko
- Christian Eriksen
- Andreas Christensen
Serbia vs England
I would like to start by saying Serbia came into this game with a plan and made the game a lot harder for England. A key person during the game must be the 23-year-old who plays for Saltzburg, Pavlovic. Who got the highest rating from the Serbian team with a 7.7 but praise must go to the rest of the back line. Serbia started with a 3-4-2-1 with Sergij Milinkovis-Savic and Dusan Vlahovic as centre-attacking midfielders and Mitrovic up top. The full team moved as a unit and defended well.
But all in all, I genuinely believe that this was the most boring game of the tournament so far. England set up as a 4-2-3-1. Playing Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice as Centre-defensive midfielders and Jude Bellingham as a centre-attacking midfielder with Phil Foden on the left and Bukayo Saka on the right. When reviewing the game and analysing the game as a whole, England played well. Getting a goal early on with Bukayo Saka crossing the ball in from the right-hand side with Harry Kane running to the front post to create space in the middle of the goal for Jude Bellingham to turn it in.
When leading up to this game, I assumed that England would dominate but struggle to make chances, but it seemed to be the opposite. It was a much closer battle in terms of possession with England managing to have 53% of the possession making the game a lot narrower than what was expected. This is also matched by the fact that Serbia managed to have more shots than England. Where Serbia thrived was by preventing England from having set pieces. Limiting England to only having one corner throughout the game. England managed to make a few good opportunities but all in all I will stand by this game being the least entertaining.
Stand out individuals: -
- Marc Guehi
- Jude Bellingham
- Declan Rice
- Strahinja Pavlovic
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