Switzerland v England: European Championship 2016 qualifier match preview
A look ahead to tonight's European Championship qualifier at St. Jakob-Park
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Your support makes all the difference.Following on from their lacklustre win against Norway on Wednesday, England and their fans will be hoping for a much better performance against a strong Switzerland side in their opening European Championship qualifier tonight.
Roy Hodgson has been left with a selection headache following Daniel Sturridge’s thigh injury ruling him out of the clash. Danny Welbeck and Rickie Lambert who have yet to start a league game this season, will be hoping to be given a chance to play alongside captain Wayne Rooney in attack.
Raheem Sterling, who was England’s most impressive performer against Norway, will look to continue his fine early season form and most fans believe he is the key to picking up a valuable three points.
Switzerland come into this game off the back of a solid World Cup campaign, where they were beaten by finalists Argentina in the second round.
Star man Xherdan Shaqiri was a reported target for Liverpool over the summer after his impressive World Cup which included scoring a hat-trick against Honduras during the group stages. England’s full backs will have a tough job on their hands keeping the Bayern Munich winger quiet.
Switzerland’s philosophies are similar to Hodgson’s and they’re keen to give their exciting youngsters an opportunity to impress. Granit Xhaka, Josip Drmic and Ricardo Rodriguez are just a small number of players who can cause England a number of problems on Monday night.
KICK-OFF: Tonight, 7.45pm
PAST THREE MEETINGS…
Sat 4th June 2011, Euro Qualifier – England 2 (Lampard, Young) Switzerland 2 (Barnetta x2)
Tues 7th Sept 2010, Euro Qualifier – Switzerland 1 (Shaqiri) England 3 (Rooney, Johnson, Bent)
Wed 6th Feb 2008, Friendly – England 2 (Jenas, Wright-Phillips) Switzerland 1 (Derdiyok)
STATS…
Switzerland are ranked ninth in the official FIFA rankings, eleven places above England who are twentieth.
England Captain Wayne Rooney has scored three goals in three international appearances against Switzerland.
Wayne Rooney's penalty was only England's second shot on target in their last 170 minutes of play.
Switzerland have yet to play a game since they lost to Argentina in the last sixteen of the World Cup.
ODDS…
Switzerland to win: 2.5
England to win: 3
Draw: 3
TV
Live on ITV1 from 7.15pm.
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