It was certainly one of the more interesting ties once the groups were finalised, but Scotland and England come into this game in very different moods.
England looked comfortable in their 1-0 win over Croatia and you get the feeling there’s room for them to grow from that performance and get stronger as the tournament goes on, but Scotland’s defeat to the Czech Republic means they really need something tonight.
In a way that may have forced Stevie Clark’s hand as there’s no chance that he could stick with the starting XI who were fairly lifeless last time out, and there are a couple of interesting inclusions in the starting XI tonight:
Your Scotland team taking on England this evening.
Come on, lads!#EURO2020 | #SCO pic.twitter.com/BzCdZuCug7
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) June 18, 2021
There’s no doubt that Billy Gilmour is the interesting choice here as he makes his first start, and Scotland will need him to take control of the midfield and give them a proper playmaking presence in the midfield.
Having Kieran Tierney back in the side makes such a difference, especially in an attacking sense as his forward runs were sorely lacking in the opener.
One of Scotland’s long-standing issues has been trying to find a solution at right-back. Tierney has been tried in the role but it didn’t work out, Nathan Patterson is incredibly highly rated but James Tavernier is possibly Rangers’ best player so he rarely plays and Clark wasn’t brave enough to bring the ultimate X-factor in St Johnstone’s Shaun Rooney who scored the winner in two separate cup finals this year and would’ve caused some serious problems in the air.
Stephen O’Donnell did look out of his depth in the first game and he’s had a pretty average year with Motherwell, so that is the main worry for a lot of the fans going into this one:
O’Donnell starting pic.twitter.com/s32ZXnVkFk
— Ally Nicol ??????? (@Alistair__Nicol) June 18, 2021
Dykes and O’Donnell pic.twitter.com/WOec7mSCc6
— ShadowsOfWeevil???????? (@ATcfc88) June 18, 2021
— Fan of Valentina???????? (@Fanofvalentina3) June 18, 2021
Delighted for Gilmour.
England will have a field day against O’Donnell.
— Chris McLaughlin (@ChrisMcL16) June 18, 2021
Apart from O’Donnell thats a good team. More than capable of giving them a game.
— thomas? (@thomascfc_) June 18, 2021
Gilmour starting but with O’Donnell pic.twitter.com/aTqHruF4r1
— charlie (@HAYY72) June 18, 2021
Rip to us on the right hand side with O’Donnell vs Sterling
— djdr1877 (@davidreid1995) June 18, 2021