Football

Switzerland v England: women’s international friendly – live!


The teams

Preamble

The wait is nearly over. In six days’ time, England kick off the 2022 UEFA European Women’s Football Championship against Austria at Old Trafford. Does Sarina Wiegman know what her starting line-up that evening will be? “We’re close but it’s hard,” she says. “And even though we’re close, you still have the opportunities to change it a little bit, because the level is so high and it’s so close. We have many options.” So that’s either a yes, a maybe, or a no, and you can’t blame the England coach for declining to reveal her hand. But maybe we’ll get one or two clues this afternoon. Here’s Suzanne Wrack on the choices to be made.

The biggest questions are around who will start at No 10, with Fran Kirby, Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone in contention, which of Demi Stokes and Rachel Daly will play at left-back and who will start at centre-forward or is back-up to Ellen White should she not be ready after a week out [with Covid].

Asked whether Arsenal’s Beth Mead could be deployed as a No 9, after England’s top scorer under Wiegman drifted in from the wing to great effect against the Netherlands last Friday, Wiegman replied with a smile: “That’s a very good question.”

England are in a good place at the moment. They’ve won their last five games – against Germany, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands – to the cumulative tune of 26-2. Given that the Dutch, the reigning European champions, were swatted aside 5-1 in Leeds last week, and that Wiegman doesn’t think Switzerland “will have the level of the Netherlands”, England will look upon today’s match as an opportunity to fill their boots ahead of the big event. Then again, the Swiss have Ramona Bachmann in their ranks, and when the star turn of the 2018 Women’s FA Cup final is on her game, anything is possible. Kick off is at 5pm in Zurich. It’s on!





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