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5 July, 20:00 BST
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Stadion Letzigrund, Zurich
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World ranking: 10th v 3rd
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Best Euros finish: France: semi-finals in 2022. England: winners in 2022
I keep changing my mind about how this game might work out for England, and I am sure that will continue right up until kick-off.
I feel like the Lionesses will probably need to be a little conservative if they are to start the defence of their title with a win, but I can see them keeping a clean sheet if they get things right at the back.
Even in this week’s friendly win over Jamaica, England showed some vulnerability at set-pieces, so they are going to have to tighten up and be sharper in those situations.
England lost two key defensive players, goalkeeper Mary Earps and centre-back Millie Bright, in the run-up to the tournament and while our backline is still at world-class level without them, replacing them has caused some disruption to our defensive unit.
So, I am sure there will still be a few issues that will need to be ironed out as this tournament progresses, but hopefully that won’t cost England any goals or points here.
The key for England winning this game will be them being tight at the back – maintaining possession, controlling the game and reducing the number of mistakes.
If they can do that and also create some chances for our forward line then our attackers are so ruthless, they will take care of the rest.
Brown-Finnis’ prediction: 0-1
