Key events
Ezri Konsa starts for England
England have made one change to the team that started against Slovenia and it ought to go without saying that it is enforced. Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa makes his sixth appearance for his country, coming in for Marc Guehi, who is suspended.
England: Performances in Germany have been laboured but Gareth Southgate’s side must break the shackles and try to enjoy themselves if they are to overcome Switzerland, writes Jacob Steinberg.
Early team news: With Marc Guehi suspended, the word on the word on the straße around England’s training camp is that Gareth Southgate plans to play three at the back, with Ezri Konsa likely to come in alongside Kyle Walker and John Stones in the heart of defence. Despite such a system being ideally suited to Trent Alexander-Arnold, the Liverpool defender is not expected to start and Kieran Trippier and Bukayo Saka will line up as wing-backs.
Despite being back in full training, Luke Shaw is not expected to start, as he has not played in a football match since going off injured against Luton Town while playing for Manchester United almost five months ago.
Switzerland boss Murat Yakin is believed to have a full squad to choose from despite concerns that Granit Xhaka, his side’s stand-out player of the tournament, might miss out with an adductor injury.
With Silvan Widmer available again after missing the win over Italy through suspension, Yakin must decide whether to recall him to his line-up or stick with Dan Ndoye, who excelled in the Mainz right-back’s absence. In the event of both players starting, Fabian Rieder will probably make way.
Preamble
They go again. Despite flattering to deceive for four consecutive games in this tournament, England are still in Euro 2024 and will be hoping today is the day their players can finally hit something resembling their stride and deliver a performance at least befitting their status as quarter-finalists, if not pre-tournament second favourites.
In Switzerland they face a side that have thus far proved greater than the sum of their parts and showed just how impressive they can be when seeing off Italy with a minimum of fuss last time out. Murat Yakin’s side are expected to pose England no end of problems in this battle to reach the semi-finals. Kick-off at the Dusseldorf Arena is at 5pm (BST) but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.