England vs Scotland. European Championships Group D.
Wembley StadiumAttendance20,306.
From team news to pundit verdicts, all you need to know ahead of England vs Scotland at Euro 2020 on Friday night. Follow the game with the Sky Sports website and app
Saturday 19 June 2021 00:25, UK
It's the fixture England and Scotland fans have been looking forward to for months - and on Friday night at Wembley, their rivalry will be renewed.
Since Scotland booked their place at Euro 2020 with a play-off win in November, another instalment of the oldest international fixture in football has been discussed, debated and hotly-anticipated.
England may have won seven of the last nine meetings but the 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw at Hampden Park in June 2017, when Harry Kane rescued a dramatic point after Leigh Griffiths scored two late free-kicks, shows nothing can be ruled out in the contests between these two.
Their only previous meeting at a major tournament is another example. Gary McAllister had the chance to equalise for Scotland at the old Wembley in a group game at Euro 96 but instead two iconic moments in English football history played out over the next two minutes: David Seaman's penalty save and Paul Gascoigne's legendary goal to make it 2-0.
The 22,500 fans at Wembley for the latest clash will hope to see similar excitement.
After the opening round of games in Group D, it is Scotland who need the points more.
Steve Clarke's side had their chances against Czech Republic but were undone by a couple of fine Patrik Schick goals, while England put in an encouraging performance in their 1-0 win over Croatia.
England will be through to the knockout stages if they win at Wembley, and they will be confirmed in the top two if they win and Croatia do not beat Czech Republic.
But, on the other hand, what better way for Scotland to take a huge step towards a first appearance in a major tournament knockout stage than by beating England at Wembley?
Tyrone Mings and John Stones will keep their places in England's starting XI, with Harry Maguire returning to the squad on the bench, Sky Sports News has learned.
Gareth Southgate had already said Maguire will be involved in the England squad, having been out since May with an ankle injury.
"Harry will be involved tomorrow, the decision we have got to make is whether he is ready to start," he said.
"We are really pleased with his progress, he has trained with the team for four or five days now and he has had no reaction.
"He is on a really good path. We want everyone available, it causes difficult decisions but we have 26 players on the training pitch and that is a great position to be involved in."
Southgate is also considering changing both his full-backs and starting with Reece James and Luke Shaw. Kyle Walker started England's opening group-stage win against Croatia at right-back on Sunday, while Kieran Trippier played out of position as the starting left-back for the 1-0 victory at Wembley.
Clarke declared Kieran Tierney fit and available for Scotland. The Arsenal defender missed the 2-0 defeat by Czech Republic at Hampden Park in the Group D opener with a niggle.
Clarke said: "It is good news for Kieran, good news for us and good news for the Scottish supporters. Hopefully we can back all that up with a good result. He has trained fully the last two days. He is available for the whole game."
England manager Gareth Southgate: "We know that we have got to compete because otherwise you can get overrun in any game. Our focus has got to be on performances getting better with every game we play.
"For the fans and us it is a big occasion but it is another opportunity for three points and our objective is qualification. That is what we have got to focus on.
"In the past we have done that very well. We did that on Sunday, Sunday was a big occasion for everyone and we handled it very well.
"Every game they play for England means a lot to them, but I think younger generations have a different view on those old rivalries.
"The history of the games when we were growing up the home internationals were one of the few games you saw live at the end of the season.
"England-Scotland was a massive occasion every year, now it is played less regularly, lots of the players are friends within their clubs.
"I haven't felt the need to build that up, I want them to approach it like any other game of football and focus on playing well and don't need to emphasise the other parts too much."
Scotland manager Steve Clarke: "The players have to believe in themselves, that's the first criteria.
"They are all good players, they are all playing at a really good level. A lot of them are team-mates with some of the lads in the England squad as well so they are used to seeing them on the pitch and used to playing in big games.
"I wouldn't think they wouldn't have the self-belief to go there and get a good result. We have good professionals in the squad, they are used to playing in big matches.
"Big players want to play in big games and they don't come much bigger than this one. We will go out here and try to get on the front foot as early as possible, try to get hold of the ball.
"The players will try and make themselves feel comfortable on the pitch, and if we can get off to a quick start it will be good for us.
"The objective when we started the tournament was to get enough points to get out of the group stage and into the knockout stage for the first time in our history as the men's A team, and we still have that in front of us.
"So we look to get something out of the game against England and obviously we have to get something out of the game against Croatia as well. So we look forward to the next two games."
"I don't think the England players will get carried away with the emotion, and I don't think Gareth will. Gareth doesn't tend to get too high when they win a game, or too low when they lose a game. He's seen a lot of international football, has seen a lot of tournament football, and understands what can happen.
"I think his game plan for Friday will have been set even before Croatia, and I don't think that will change. He's really methodical, and knows how he's going to tackle each game. That will be set.
"It will be more interesting to see how Steve Clarke reacts to their defeat in the first game, there may be an emotional reaction that they need to be more attacking and proactive. But that would suit England, if Scotland came out and attacked, they could then play their football a little bit more. It's important for both managers to remove emotion from this match, and stick to their game plans.
"I am sure Southgate will, it's whether Steve Clarke reacts to the fact they had a disappointing first result against Czech Republic."
"I think he will change it and I would as well. You have to remember we are hoping to go all the way, so you cannot expect the same 11 players to play all these games in this heat and not change it up.
"And the one advantage we have over all the other teams is we may not have the best XI, but we have the best 23. I could change all the front players, apart from Kane, and we would not be weakened. I could bring in Rashford, Grealish, Jude Bellingham, and Sancho.
"I could also bring in Ben Chilwell and Reece James in the full-back positions and again, it would not weaken the team and this is why we have a massive advantage. But you have to use that advantage as there is no point having all these players if you are going to keep on playing the same team.
"And with England almost through, this is why I would experiment now. We should look to win every game as it is all about confidence, rather than worry about where we should finish in the group."
Clarke's side will be going in as underdogs but there could be the opportunity for the visitors to spring a surprise on the counter-attack, former Scotland international James McFadden told the Sky Sports Football Euros Podcast.
"I'm always optimistic but we need to defend better than that. We have to defend better.
"It's tough to find a weakness [in England]. If anything, I think the game plan, rather than trying to exploit a specific area, the game plan is to frustrate them, to sit in, absorb some pressure, hit them on the break, make them over-commit with bodies forward.
"You look at their threat, it's Harry Kane dropping short and Raheem Sterling exploiting the space using his pace. But if we don't leave any space they have to find another way.
"We have to be solid and compact and have England over-commit players forward so we can get at them defensively."
Read more from McFadden - including why he believes Billy Gilmour should start at Wembley.
Mark McAdam has got the boys back together. The reporter has tracked down England's stars of Euro 96 - and, ahead of England vs Scotland at Euro 2020, they tell us the inside story of the famous clash between the two teams at Wembley 25 years ago.
Gary Neville, Jamie Redknapp, Gareth Southgate, Teddy Sheringham, Paul Ince and Stuart Pearce lift the lid on what it was like inside the England dressing room before that dramatic match, the key turning points in the contest, and how the victory ultimately propelled England to the semi-finals.
For more behind the scenes stories of England's adventures at Euro 96, you can watch The Boys of 96 on Sky Sports News and the Sky Sports YouTube channel.
