SIT tight football lovers as England return to centre stage against Northern Ireland TONIGHT – in need of only one point for a last-16 spot.
Beth Mead's hattrick inspired the Lionesses to an emphatic 8-0 victory over Norway on Monday and the Arsenal attacker will be hoping to add her to tally once again.
- Start time: 8pm GMT
- TV/Live stream: BBC
- Northern Ireland XI: Burns; Mckenna, Nelson, Robson, Vance; Rafferty, Callaghan, Furness, Holloway; Wade, McGuinness
- England XI: Earps; Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Daly; Stanway, Walsh; Mead, Kirby, Hemp; White
Follow ALL the action with our live blog below…
- Emillia Hawkins
Arjan Veurink takes charge of England
The Dutchman temporarily replaces Sarina Wiegman while she isolates with Covid.
Credit: Getty - Emillia Hawkins
‘We want to grow the game’
The Lionesses are hoping that this year’s home tournament will help grow the women’s game in popularity throughout the UK.
Striker Ellen White has said: “We knew how excited everyone got for the men's euros and that buzz and passion everyone felt for the England team.
“That's the type of kind of buzz we hope to create.
“We wanted to have the Euros in England for a reason and we want to grow the game.
“There's the massive stat that so many girls drop out at a certain age and that's really sad.
“It's amazing that they're putting so much money in to go around to the host cities and really promote the game, not just for grassroots but for girls of all ages and to make football accessible."
Credit: Getty - Emillia Hawkins
‘You feel a real responsibility’
During yesterday’s press conference, England goalkeeper Mary Earps spoke about the impact that fans have had on the squad since the beginning of the tournament.
She said: “Knowing English people I have absolutely no doubt that the country is behind us.
“It’s not something that us as players have really engaged with too much because, to be honest, we’re so focused in our bubble that it’s not something we’re hearing and feeling too much – apart from when we come into the stadium and hear the roars from the crowd, which has obviously been fantastic.
“To be honest, for the first time we’ve really witnessed that in terms of playing major tournaments away from home you don’t realise how much that can be so much fun and drive you forwards in terms of your engagement in the game and really striving to such a high level of performance and excellence.
“You feel a real responsibility because you want to do that – not only for your team-mates but for the people coming to watch of course.
“But it’s not something that we’re engaging with too much. I have no doubt that everyone at home is doing and we want to do the nation proud as best as we possibly can, and the way that we’re going to do that is performing to a high level and the standards that we’ve set in every game.”
Credit: Getty
- Emillia Hawkins
Current group standings
Credit: Twitter.com / @WEURO2022 - Emillia Hawkins
Sarina Wiegman on today’s game
During Thursday’s press conference, the England boss said:
“We've played them twice already last season.
“I think for them, it's really good that they have had their first tournament.
“For the development of players, you need tournaments to become better and know what to expect next time.
“We can see they're trying to develop their style of play and I'm absolutely sure they will try and have a competitive game tomorrow and make best out of it. That's what we want to do too.
“I don't know how many Northern Ireland people will be here. It will be full and what we want to do is play a good game, win, keep a clean sheet and that we give the people that are here a very nice evening.”
Credit: PA - Emillia Hawkins
Kenny Shiels on today’s game
During yesterday's press conference, the Northern Ireland boss said:
“It's important that we don't get overawed. We took them on in a friendly at St George's Park, and the [England] girls were signing autographs after the match.
“The girls were queued up outside the changing room and shows you the esteem in which England are held, by our country as well and how good they are doesn't help because we have to try look at, not just realistically, but we have to have a purpose and try to win.
“The girls did admit afterwards they were overawed by that occasion. But the friendly helped us to prepare for going to Ukraine.
“It was such a tough game and we learnt so much about ourselves then, and we're learning now, with the experience of losing both games [in World Cup qualifying] is good for the future in how we learn for the future and from our mistakes.
“With the stature of England, we've got to try and eliminate that from our thoughts and play the team rather than the occasion.
“It's a big occasion for our girls to play in front of a full house like this. We want to do our best and if we can, we can't have any complaints. We don't want to leave anything behind.
“It will be culmination of our journey at the Euros, we will want to leave on a feel-good note and we will certainly be trying to do that.”
Credit: PA - Emillia Hawkins
Women’s Euro2022 groups
- Group A: England, Austria, Norway, Northern Ireland
- Group B: Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland
- Group C: Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal
- Group D: France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland
Sarina Wiegman tests positive for Covid
England boss Sarina Wiegman tested positive for Covid this afternoon and will not be on the sidelines for this evening’s game.
Her assistant Arjan Veurink will step into her position for the match while she remains in remote contact with the players and technical staff.
England substitutes
Alex Greenwood, Jess Carter, Hannah Hampton, Jill Scott, Nikita Parris, Chloe Kelly, Bethany England, Ella Toone, Ellie Roebuck, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Alessia Russo.
The Lionesses start in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
- Emillia Hawkins
Northern Ireland substitutes
Becky Flaherty, Kelsie Burrows, Abbie Magee, Joely Andrews, Nadine Caldwell, Chloe McCarron, Shannon Turner, Ashley Hutton, Emily Wilson, Louise McDaniel, Caitlin McGuinness.
The Green and White Army start in a 4-4-2 formation.
- Emillia Hawkins
England starting line-up
It's an unchanged starting XI for England.
Mary Earps, Lucy Bronze, Rachel Daly, Keira Walsh, Millie Bright, Beth Mead, Leah Williamson, Ellen White, Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp, Fran Kirby.
- Emillia Hawkins
Northern Ireland starting line-up
Jackie Burns, Rebecca McKenna, Sarah McFadden, Julie Nelson, Demi Vance, Laura Rafferty, Rebecca Holloway, Marissa Callaghan, Rachel Furness, Kirsty McGuinness, Lauren Wade.
- Emillia Hawkins
Northern Ireland team news
Northern Ireland boss Kenny Shiels is likely to make a number of changes with the Green and White Army already knocked out of the competition.
Simone Magill will be absent due to an ACL injury sustained during the opening game against Norway.
Rebecca McKenna, who broke into the starting line-up earlier this week, is expected to retain her spot at right-back.
- Emillia Hawkins
England team news
Demi Stokes is unavailable due to a minor knee injury, but she should be back to full fitness in time for England’s quarter-final clash next week.
Lotte Wubben-Moy returned to the camp this week after a five-day absence with Covid.
Manager Sarina Wiegman has revealed that she will field a similar starting XI to the first two group stage fixtures despite the reduced significance of the game.
She said: “I believe in rhythm. I think when you have nine days in between the Norwegian game and the quarter-finals that’s too long.
“I think you need more rhythm and keep the focus, and keep playing. So you couldn’t expect lots of rotations. During the game, probably, but not before the start.”
- Emillia Hawkins
Welcome to Northern Ireland vs England
Good evening and welcome to SunSport’s coverage of Northern Ireland vs England.
We have reached the final round of Euro2022 group stage fixtures with England looking to secure maximum points as another statement of intent.
The Lionesses cemented their position at the top of the group on Monday with a record-breaking 8-0 win over Norway.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland have already been eliminated from the competition following two consecutive defeats.
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