Michael

I agree, that was Matviyenko's fault to start with, he put Lunin under pressure. It was a great strike by Stanciu.

What is that supposed to mean lol? It is a case of Ukraine trying to break down a compact and strong Romanian defence, with Romania trying to counter. Now that Romania have scored with that unstoppable shot by Stanciu, we will have to see how Ukraine respond.

Stanciu scores with a rocket of a shot from outside the area! Romania take the lead! Poor clearance from Lunin though, but an excellent strike by Stanciu. Romania 1-0 Ukraine

Romania have got a lot of pace in their team when they counter attack.

Dovbyk has a shot on the turn from outside the area, but the ball flies over the bar.

Romania are sitting deep and look very compact, they're defending in numbers and looking to hit Ukraine on the counter attack when the situation arises.

Two defenders on Dovbyk there, the Romanians are making sure they mark him well.

Romania's Coman has a shot at goal from outside of the area, but it is saved by Lunin.

A long ball forward finds Dovbyk, but his first touch control lets him down a bit and the Romanian keeper Nitu dives to claim the ball.

Mudryk dribbles past what looks like half the Romanian team in the opening minute haha.

I want Ukraine to make a statement today against a very tough Romanian side. For today's match against Romania, I think Ukraine will win, despite the bookies having the match pretty even with Ukraine only slight favourites. On the injury front, Mykolenko has been ruled out for this match through injury, so that will mean his left-back position will be filled by Zinchenko. Zinchenko who usually thrives in midfield for Ukraine, will have to cover for Mykolenko's absence at left-back. While Zinchenko's position in midfield is likely to be filled by Shaparenko. Shaparenko is a player who had an excellent season for Dynamo Kyiv the season just finished, after sitting out the whole of the previous season through injury. Shaparenko is generally held in high regard in Ukraine and some say he's as good as Sudakov. But the main reason why Sudakov is being courted by most of Europe's top clubs and why Shaparenko isn't, is probably because Shaparenko had that injury that kept him out for so long and because Shaparenko is now 25 years old, while Sudakov is only 21. But Shaparenko coming into the team because of Mykolenko's injury, is the only change that is expected to be made from the regular Ukrainian line-up. It will be a big opportunity for Shaparenko to prove himself at this level, so it will be very interesting to see how he performs. So for Ukraine, Real Madrid's Lunin is expected to start ahead of Benfica's Trubin as Ukraine's goalkeeper. In defence, the strong central defensive partnership of Bournemouth's Zabarnyi and Shakhtar's Matviyenko will start. Shakhtar Donetsk's Konoplia has proven himself to be Ukraine's best right-back ahead of the likes of Tymchyk and Karavayev. So Konoplia will start on the right of defence while as already mentioned, at left-back, Arsenal's Zinchenko will start in place of the injured Everton player Mykolenko. In the holding midfield position, the experienced Stepanenko is likely to start ahead of Genoa's Malinovskyi and the youngster Brazhko. While next to Stepanenko in midfield, as already mentioned, Dynamo Kyiv's Shaparenko should start. In the attacking midfield position, the latest Ukrainian wonderkid Sudakov will start. He will be given a lot of responsibility for his play making ability. While on the wings, Girona's Tsyhankov will play on the right wing and Chelsea's Mudryk will play on the left wing, providing a lot of creativity for Ukraine. In attack, the centre forward for Ukraine is going to be no other than the La Liga's top scorer and Girona's star player Artem Dovbyk. Dovbyk, who scored 24 league goals in the Spanish league last season, which was his first season playing in the Spanish league, has proven himself to be one of the most lethal strikers in Europe. Watching the attacking quartet of Dovbyk, Tsyhankov, Sudakov and Mudryk is a mouth watering prospect for me. I believe they will terrorise a lot of defences at these Euros. Ukraine also have attacking options off the bench if need be. The young striker Vanat was the leading scorer in the Ukrainian league and he is an excellent goal-scorer. Vanat's class got him selected for the Ukraine squad ahead of Ukraine's other highly rated young striker Sikan. Other attacking options off the bench are Valencia's Yaremchuk and the veteran Yarmolenko, both of whom were Ukraine's best players at the last Euros, but this time they have to settle for a place on the bench. Furthermore, Genoa's midfielder Malinovskyi, arguably the best long range shooter in the world, is also an attacking option for Ukraine off the bench. It's also worth noting that this Ukrainian team is generally very young. Of the starting 11, only Stepanenko is in his 30's, while there's only one player who is 28 and another who is 27 and the rest of the players are either 26 years old or younger. If the 22 year old Brazhko starts ahead of Stepanenko, as he did during the play-offs in qualification, then that would bring the average age down even further. So it's a promising young team that Ukraine have, that will be together for many years to come. So Ukraine's expected line-up is the following: GK: Lunin, RB: Konoplia, CB: Zabarnyi, CB: Matviyenko, LB: Zinchenko - CM: Stepanenko, CM: Shaparenko, RW: Mudryk, LW: Tsyhankov, AM: Sudakov, CF: Artem Dovbyk. As for Ukraine's opponents today, Romania went undefeated in their qualification group for these Euros, a group that featured Switzerland, in which Romania beat the Swiss at home and drew with them away. In goal, the manager Iordanescu will need to choose between the experienced keepr Nita and the younger Atletico Madrid keeper Moldovan, as to who he thinks should start. Bournemouth keeper Ionut Radu, on loan from Inter Milan, wasn't even selected for Romania's Euro squad because of his lack of playing time at club level. In defence, Tottenham's highly rated Dragusin will marshal the defence next to the more experienced defender Burca. Palermo's central defender Nedelcearu will have to make do with a place on the bench. At right-back, Rayo Vallecano's 25 year old Andrei Ratiu will start for Romania, while at left-back the experienced Bancu should start. In central midfield, former Ajax player and current Empoli player Razvan Marin will play alongside his namesake and Pisa midfielder Marius Marin. They will both be responsible for the ball winning responsibilities in midfield. In attacking midfield, the play-making role will be given to the experienced and very talented Nicolae Stanciu. Stancia will likely start ahead of the equally talented Ianis Hagi, despite Hagi having a successful season in Spain's La Liga with Alaves. Impressive attacking midfielder Darius Olaru will also likely start on the bench. On the wings, it is likely that the Parma duo of Dennis Man and Valentin Mihaila will start. Both players were integral last season in helping Parma win the Serie B title last season, with Dennis Man voted the best player in Italy's Serie B last season and being courted by the likes of Dortmund. Dennis Man will start on the right wing, while Mihaila, 2 goal hero against Switzerland during qualification will battle it out with the talented Florinel Coman, nicknamed the "Romanian Mbappe", to start on the left-wing. In attack, the centre forward position is most likely going to go with Denis Dragus. Dragus has been among the leading scorers in the Turkish league and he was recently linked to Hoffenheim. The 24 year old Dragus is likely to start ahead of former Inter Milan striker Alibec and George Puscas of Genoa. Romania's expected line-up is the following: GK: Nita, RB: Ratiu, CB: Dragusin, CB: Burca, LB: Bancu - CM: Razvan Marin, CM: Marius Marin, RW: Dennis Man, LW: Florinal Coman, CF: Dennis Dragus

The bookies and pundits seem to have really underestimated Ukraine in my opinion. Some of the bookies placed teams like Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark, Hungary and Poland all ahead of Ukraine in terms of chances of winning the tournament, before the competition kicked off. I'd say this Ukraine team is stronger than all those teams. I think a lot of people forget that Ukraine reached the quarter-finals of the last Euros, with a very competent team. Three years on from those Euros and the current Ukrainian team is much stronger. At the last Euros, most of Ukraine's players played in the Ukrainian league. I remember saying on this forum, that despite the huge talent, the fact that most of their players played in Ukraine, did hold them back. Because many Ukrainian players weren't reaching their full potential as a result of not playing in the elite leagues. However, today many of the Ukrainian players play in the top European leagues or for top European teams. Mudryk plays for Chelsea, Zinchenko for Arsenal, Mykolenko for Everton, Zabarnyi for Bournemouth, Malinovskyi for Genoa, Yaremchuk for Valencia, Lunin for Real Madrid, Trubin for Benfica, while Dovbyk and Tsyhankov play for Girona. Other experienced players like Yarmolenko have already played in the top leagues for Dortmund and West Ham, but has now returned to Dynamo Kyiv. While other players like Sudakov, Vanat, Brazhko, Shaparenko and Matviyenko look like they will leave for teams in the top European leagues this summer. Even some Ukrainian players who play in the top European leagues like Yarmolyuk(Brentford) and Kovalenko(Atalanta/Empoli) weren't good enough to make this Ukrainian squad, neither were Sobol(Genk) or Ihnatenko(Bordeaux). Furthermore, the likes of young forward Sikan was dropped from this Ukraine squad, because the other highly rated young striker Vanat was preferred. So all in all, this Ukrainian team has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years and things look very promising.

Cheers mate!

Are 4 points a good rating for a goalkeeper? Is it just saves made that improve a keepers rating or do clean sheets in a match also add to their rating after a game? I am asking because I have a dilemma of whether to replace Verburggen with Lunin today or not.

I agree with those saying TAA needs to be replaced in that midfield position for the next match. We need to play Gallagher or Mainoo or even Wharton there. Maybe we should even start Palmer over Foden, seeing as Foden rarely shows his peak performances for England.

Yes, they were a very physically strong side and that was a bit of a challenge for us. I doubt we will win by 6 goals in this group, but our play will slowly improve as the team starts to click better. Bellingham is the key player in this team, lets face it, he is the most talented and the leader. That's true, but technically England will want to finish in 1st position, because if we finish in 1st place, the odds that we face easier opposition in the Round of 16 are greater.

I didn't think it was one of the best games of the tournament so far personally, but it was nice to see an under-dog side get a draw. This result also suits England of course as well. As for Sesko, he's a class act, he's had an excellent season at RB Leipzig and he is one of the best strikers out there. There will be a host of big clubs looking to buy him after the Euros.

England were clearly the better team in the 1st half and we deservedly took the lead through Bellingham. In the 2nd half, Serbia came much more into the game and created some good chances themselves, which is not too surprising as they have some dangerous players in their team as well. But we had the biggest chance in that 2nd half, with Kane's header that was brilliantly saved onto the cross-bar. We got the 3 points today, our win wasn't as spectacular as Germany's or Spain's, but we are top of the group. This win should make us play more freely in the upcoming games against Denmark and Slovenia.

Great shot by Valhovic from outside the area is brilliantly tipped over the bar by Pickford.

Kane's header is saved by Rajkovic and then hits the bar. Big chance for England to score their 2nd goal there.

I think that songs banned as well at these Euros.

That's a funny photo, but he is the player, that X factor that England were perhaps missing at the last Euros on route to the final. We had a good team back then, but Bellingham adds so much.

Dangerous shot by Mitrovic goes just wide.

Bellingham scores with a header after a lovely run to head the cross home! England take the lead! Serbia 0-1 England

Both excellent buys, especially Tzolis, who is worth at least 10 to 15 million euros in the current transfer market and Dusseldorf apparently bought him for only 3.5 million euros.