Euro 2016: ‘Big Beasts’ eye winning start

With games against Wales and Slovakia to come, and the potential for three teams to qualify with two guaranteed, a point at the Velodrome might look a very useful result in a couple of weeks. England, on the back of winning all 10 qualifiers, not to mention a rare victory in Germany in a friendly, start favourites and will expect to make the running in front of a 60,000 crowd that will be predominantly behind them. 

However, despite that great run of form, England are anything but a settled side as Roy Hodgson struggles with the question of how to shoe-horn his form players into an established system. Strikers Jamie Vardy, fresh from leading Leicester City to the most unlikely Premier League title, and Harry Kane, the Premier League’s top scorer, seemingly demand selection. But Hodgson is adamant Wayne Rooney, the captain and most experienced squad member, should get a starting berth, leaving the coach experimenting with his attacking options right up to the last minute. 

At least he is picking from strength in that regard as his, and England’s more pressing concern is in central defence where any combination of Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling and John Stones has looked vulnerable and remains England’s Achilles heel. England have not lost in 90 or 120 minutes in 22 Euro matches in finals and qualifiers, going back to a 3-2 defeat by Croatia in November 2007.

Switzerland may get a taste of their own medicine on Saturday when they meet an Albania side featuring several players who benefited from the highly-acclaimed Swiss youth set-up. Loyalties will be divided in a fascinating Group A clash which, for the first time in the European Championship, will have brothers on opposing sides in Granit and Taulant Xhaka. Both are of Albanian heritage and were born in Basel but Granit will line up for Switzerland and older brother Taulant, provided he recovers from a thigh injury, for their opponents. In all, nine members of Albania’s 23-man squad had the right to play for Switzerland, and six members of the Swiss squad could have opted for Albania. Switzerland accepted tens of thousands of Kosovar Albanians who fled the Balkan wars in the 1990s.