JACK GREALISH is set to be left on the bench tonight but Jadon Sancho will likely be given a chance to shine for England against Ukraine.
Winger Sancho, who has agreed a deal to join Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund, looks set to be unleashed by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate in the Euro 2020 quarter final.
The 21-year-old has been restricted to just one cameo role as substitute so far in England’s epic run to the last-eight.
Now Sancho will come into the starting XI for the crunch clash in Rome with Southgate reverting to a 4-2-3-1 formation following the 2-0 victory over Germany.
Raheem Sterling, top scorer for the Three Lions at the tournament, broke the deadlock at a raucous Wembley on Tuesday and will retain his spot in attack.
Grealish came on and provided the assist for Harry Kane, who will also lead the nation again, to grab the second against Germany.
However, that has not proved enough for him to replace the injured Bukayo Saka in the forward line.
Full-back Kieran Trippier also reportedly has a muscular problem, so that will see England revert to a flat back four.
Luke Shaw stays at left-back with Kyle Walker moving from centre to the right while John Stones and Harry Maguire stay in the middle.
That will also see Mason Mount come back into the side in midfield behind Kane.
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Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice are both expected to start despite being a yellow card away from suspension with Jordan Pickford retaining his place in goal.
England boss Southgate described both his side and fans at Wembley as ‘immense’ following the Germany match.
And he is desperate for his team’s journey to continue in Rome – despite knowing they will not enjoy the same deafening backing due to supporters being unable to travel to Italy.
He said: “I think there was clearly a big emotional toll from the game and everybody enjoyed the day but, even in the dressing room afterwards, the players were already talking about the next game and the need to prepare well.
“So we have shifted the mindset quickly on to that next challenge. We’ve achieved one challenge but that’s not the Everest we set ourselves, really. We want to push on from where we’ve got to now.
“I think the psychological freshness is key. We’ve obviously got a strong squad as well.
“It’s actually, for us, probably a good thing to be going away now. It would’ve been very hard, three days later, to replicate that experience at Wembley.
“So now we’ve got a different sort of test. We’ve got to go away from home, play a good team, without many English fans in the stadium, so it’s all about our group, it’s all about our team and what we do, and the energy and focus that we create.”
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