England meet Romania in their final Euro 2020 warm-up friendly at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium.
This match represents the last chance for players to impress Gareth Southgate ahead of England’s Euro 2020 opener against Croatia, whereas Romania failed to qualify for the tournament so will be looking to end their two friendlies on a high.
Team News
Trent Alexander-Arnold is ruled out for England after withdrawing from the squad with a quad injury on Thursday (3 June).
Southgate will rotate his squad as he looks to give his potential first choice starting eleven a chance to impress, with Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Mason Mount, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw pushing for starts after missing Wednesday’s win over Austria.
Harry Maguire is unlikely to be risked as he continues to recover from an ankle injury.
Romania have no fresh injury concerns to report after losing 2-1 to Georgia in midweek, despite Nicusor Bancu, Andrei Burca, Iulian Cristea and Florian Tanase all withdrawing with injury ahead of that match.
Stat Attack
- England are yet to suffer defeat against Romania in four previous international friendlies (W1, D3).
- Romania drew 1-1 in both of their two previous away friendly trips against England, albeit with both clashes taking place at Wembley Stadium.
- England have kept clean sheets in each of their last six international friendlies and scored 13 goals across those six matches (W6).
- Romania have kept just two clean sheets in their last six friendly fixtures (W5, L1)
Prediction
Despite lacking various key players like Chilwell, Mount and Foden in midweek, England did deliver a solid performance and particularly during set pieces where Austria’s defence was weaker compared to open play.
This game though is likely going to be where we see England’s true potential heading into the Euros with all of their big stars now in the fold, although I think Southgate should look to give Jesse Lingard and James Ward-Prowse a chance to both impress now that there is a vacancy in his squad.
Romania meanwhile will be disappointed with their midweek loss but they did certainly give Georgia a contest, even though their inconsistent defence proved their downfall as often been the case in recent years despite their impressive goalscoring record up front.
I therefore wouldn’t be surprised if we see another tightly fought contest but with home fans present along with several players who were absent on Wednesday, I genuinely can see England taking the win and a clean sheet too despite drawing 1-1 in both previous home friendlies against Romania.
Prediction: England 2-0 Romania
Result: England 1-0 Romania
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