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BBC News
2 minutes ago
- BBC News
England or Spain? Brown-Finnis' Euro 2025 final prediction
There is just one more game to go, but will Euro 2025 end with the holders retaining the title - or a first for the world champions?BBC Sport football expert Rachel Brown-Finnis maintained her 100% record in the knockout stages by correctly backing England and Spain to reach Sunday's final at St Jakob-Park in is predicting the outcome of all 31 games in Switzerland against BBC readers, and been right about 22 out of 30 so far (73%).You were also right about both semi-finals, meaning your overall total is 20/30 (67%).Out of a combined total of 100,000 predictions by BBC readers for both games, 87% thought England would beat Italy and 80% expected Spain to get past will you be backing in the final? You can make your own predictions Brown-Finnis was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan. Final 27 July, 17:00 BSTSt Jakob-Park, BaselWorld ranking: 5th v 2ndBest previous Euros finish: England - winners 2022. Spain - semi-finals live on BBC One, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website; live commentary on Radio 5 Live and BBC will know they can play much better than they did in their quarter-final and semi-final wins over Sweden and Italy, and success on Sunday is a matter of them bringing their best game from the first second to the a team as good as Spain, they cannot afford any defensive mistakes - they have to be absolutely watertight at the defended superbly against Spain in their semi-final and goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger had a brilliant tournament. But she made one mistake at the very end and that was all it took for them to go have so many world-class players and arguably the best in Aitana Bonmati, that they can take advantage of any won't be afraid of them, though. There is no chance of the outside, beating the world champions might seem like a daunting task. Spain were the better side when they beat the Lionesses in the 2023 World Cup final and they have won 10 games in a row - a run that includes victory over England the last time they met, in Spain's last defeat, in February, came against the Lionesses at Wembley. Having a recent result like that to lean on for reassurance is huge ahead of an occasion like this.I look back at that game and think England can do it this time too - and the players will 100% believe it as well. Germany showed England the way? Rewatching Germany's semi-final against Spain would be the perfect preparation for England, certainly in terms of seeing a system that will allow them to get at their were well organised at the back but also created a number of chances too. England need to do exactly the same to squeeze Spain, but then be more clinical when they get their own opportunities, which they quite easy to see where Spain's vulnerability could be - they play a high line at the back so you can hurt them with quick attacks and pace in you are looking at the pace of Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp being key for the Lionesses, with Alessia Russo making fast forward runs as Hannah Hampton can play a part too, if you remember the goal England scored against the Netherlands in the group stage, where she played a long ball to Russo who set up Lauren James for a stunning strike from the edge of the area. We have seen already how goalkeepers have often been the players who have decided the tightest of matches, whether in penalty shootouts or open play, so Hampton's overall performance is likely to be crucial if England are going to has been solid so far at these Euros - brilliant with her feet and very good with her hands. Hampton has commanded her area too and seems to be gaining confidence with every it comes down to a battle between her and Spain's Cata Coll, I would back Hampton all the way.I want to see Coll tested, because I don't think that has happened much so far in Switzerland - Spain have not come under too much pressure in any of their way of doing that would be with our set-piece deliveries. Spain have looked a little rusty when they have faced them and I would not be surprised if a free-kick or corner leads to an England goal on Sunday. The verdict? I have said England will win Euro 2025 from the start and I am not changing my mind now.I've not just been backing them blindly as they have gone through the tournament either. They've essentially been playing knockout football since losing their opening group game to France, but have had the mentality to solve every problem they have progress has not exactly been straightforward but Sarina Wiegman keeps coming up with a way of winning, and I believe she will do the same against is going to be extremely close, of course, because there is so little between the two teams, but I think the Lionesses will win by one needing penalties in the quarter-finals and extra-time in the semi-finals, this time I can see them getting the job done in 90 prediction: 2-1
The Sun
4 minutes ago
- The Sun
Alexander Isak offered whopping £32M-A-YEAR deal from Saudi but star has heart set on record-breaking Liverpool transfer
ALEXANDER ISAK has been offered a £32million-a-year deal from Saudi Arabia — but his heart is set on Liverpool. The Swedish striker, 25, told Newcastle he wants to leave after they knocked back the Reds' initial approach over a potential British-record £120m move last week. SunSport understands he could now submit a transfer request to push for a switch to the Premier League champions. And he wants to head to Anfield despite the extraordinary offer from Al-Hilal, which would also see him land a £14m signing-on bonus and a host of other incentives. Isak would pocket £3.6m for winning the Saudi Pro League, £3.8m for lifting the Asian Champions League and a further £1.75m for finishing as the division's top scorer. Also on offer is £120,000 a month in personal expenses to cover travel for him and his family, a club house with four full-time staff and a full-time chauffeur. Isak would be provided with a private jet for him and his family whenever he is called up for Sweden duty. It would make him the fifth-highest earner behind only Sadio Mane, Karim Benzema, Riyad Mahrez and Cristiano Ronaldo. But Isak only has eyes for Liverpool. The Toon are refusing to sell last season's 27-goal top scorer despite him not going on their pre-season tour to Asia. They have been unable to persuade him to sign a £300,000-a-week deal making him Newcastle's highest-ever earner. And they fear he could force a move by handing in a written transfer request. Newcastle are exploring a move for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko as a potential replacement. Newcastle plotting Benjamin Sesko bid to replace Alexander Isak And they are planning a £35m bid for Brentford's Yoane Wissa after a £25m offer was rejected. New Liverpool forward Hugo Ekitike, who snubbed Tyneside for the Reds, has dropped a big hint that Isak could be joining him at Anfield. The Frenchman cost £69m from Frankfurt and boss Arne Slot wants Isak to join him, Mo Salah and Florian Wirtz in a new-look attack. And Ekitike, 23, revealed how much he likes a strike partner. He said: 'I can play alone and also with another striker and that's what makes me versatile. "You know now in football you need to adapt." 2
Daily Mail
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
England must tap into the old lump-it-long, bulldog spirit to slay Spain in the Euro 2025 final, writes IAN HERBERT
There was a brief moment of confusion on the eve of the Lionesses' Euros semi-final against Italy when Sarina Wiegman was asked if she had 'fallen in love' with England and, not entirely understanding why she was being asked, did not come straight out with the most fulsome answer. 'Yes…' she replied, rather falteringly and without elaboration. Wiegman later said it had been a comprehension problem. It can be this way with her. English language and colloquialisms — 'console your team' and 'let the cat out of the bag' — have flummoxed her over the past few years. The question was extremely relevant given the way 'Englishness', in an old-fashioned 1980s football sense, has been the team's watchword here, and referenced by a2 number of the players of how England survived a bumpy road to reach Sunday's final against Spain. Chloe Kelly arrived to speak on Tuesday as the semi-final's player of the match and declared: 'I'm proud to be English.' The theme resurfaced when Keira Walsh was asked about the never-say-die resilience which rescued the team against Sweden in the last eight, then Italy, 30 seconds from time. 'It's a part of being English,' she said. 'What we speak about as a team is that English resilience and we pride ourselves on it.' The FA have gone to great lengths to create a different definition of Englishness in the past 10 years. There is the fabled 'England DNA', dreamt up at St George's Park, about progressive, technical football through all the age groups and, under Gareth Southgate, a more broad-minded, less narrow view of nationhood. But the Lionesses in these past three weeks have reverted to what men's football would call the bulldog spirit: a fighting, never-say-die mentality. 'Do or die' has been the only way, as seen in the dramatic last-eight and semi-final comebacks Some of this fighting spirit has been a necessary product of England's failure to get anywhere near the technical levels they found in the 2022 tournament. Finalists they might be, but they have not played well in progressing the ball up the pitch. 'Do or die' has been the only way. To watch back the two goals England scored in their comeback win against Spain in the 2022 quarter-final is to be reminded of how diminished in technical brio and confidence they seem to have become. But there has also been a profitable reversion to the old England. When her team was being torn apart by France in the opening game, Wiegman told Walsh, the midfield technician, to play longer balls. Against the Dutch, who England rightly expected would press them, Walsh went vertical again in what was the team's best display here. 'It helped us playing longer,' Walsh said. 'It plays to our forwards' strengths. If the way to win is playing one straight pass that's what we're going to do.' Against the weaker Welsh, England played through the midfield. The numbers bear out this reversion to what was once an admired and feared brand of English football. The percentage of England passes sent long has increased from 10.6 per cent at the 2023 World Cup, where they were beaten by Spain in the final, to 13.2 here, Stats Perform data shows. Their number of successful passes which are long is 201 (9.1 per cent) compared with 5.8 per cent at the World Cup and 7.5 per cent at the 2022 Euros. Heading into a final against the best passing team in the world, the principles of scrapping and lumping it seem a good way to win and find sweet recompense for the one-sided 2023 World Cup final. Become engaged in a midfield battle with Patri Guijarro, Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas and it could be a long night. Beautiful though their tiki-taka aesthetic was in the semi-final against Germany, Spain struggled to create scoring chances. A long ball attack on Spain down England's left would put Lauren Hemp up against right back Ona Batlle. Hemp has had the better of that battle during Manchester derbies, when Batlle played for United and Hemp, now at Barcelona, was with City. The key is getting Hemp in behind Batlle to find crosses which can target the 34-year-old Spanish captain Irene Paredes, whose lack of pace can be exploited. England's equaliser against Spain three years ago demonstrated the value of going aerial in this way. A gorgeous left-footed cross by Hemp saw Alessia Russo beat Parades in the air, leaving her flat on the ground as Ella Toone pounced on the dropping ball to score. England won 2-1. There were similarities between that Toone goal and the equaliser against Italy: a cross from even deeper on the right and the ball dropping to Michelle Agyemang to score. England get lots of bodies in the box and have some of the best headers of the ball in this tournament. The potential for this plan to deliver the early goal screams out for 19-year-old Agyemang, the prodigy, to start, though she almost certainly will not. Wiegman bristled when asked on Tuesday if Agyemang, who appeared from the bench in both knock-out games here and changed the course of them, was forcing her to consider her as a starter. 'She's not forcing me,' Wiegman said. 'She's grateful for minutes and been ready for it.' A vital contributor to a more direct approach will be Lucy Bronze — a huge presence in the past month. She got forward down the right for the back-post header against the Swedes. Her decisive penalty in that game confirmed her as the fearless epitome of this resilient England. 'I don't think we've ever negated tactics or anything else that comes with the game with the term 'proper England', Bronze said. 'But we don't want to ever forget we are England — proper England — and if push comes to shove, we can win in any means possible.' Georgia Stanway, another of the pillars of the team, feels the same. 'We've spoken about wanting to be proper England,' she said. 'We want to go back to what we're good at, a traditional style of football in terms of tough tackles, getting back down to our roots.' It has been a rollercoaster ride for this team. Perhaps the most improbable journey to a final. But the chaos of these past weeks has armed them with a psychological edge: a knowledge they are never beaten.
