England face hosts Ukraine in a battle to see who will qualify for the quarter finals alongside France. A win or draw will see England through but a loss to Ukraine will see the co-hosts advance against all the odds...

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Venue - Donbass Arena, Donetsk, Ukraine

Local Kick-off Time: 20:45 CET

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It's finally the time where England talisman Wayne Rooney is available for selection after serving his two game suspension. England manager Roy Hodgson is expected to select the Manchester United star but who will he replace? 

Rooney's Manchester United teammate Danny Welbeck has performed well in England's opening two games and scored an audacious backheel winner in their last outing against Sweden. As he has played so often in front two with Rooney, Welbeck can be expected to be handed the starting berth and it will be interesting to see whether their chemistry will help England's cause.

The unlucky man to miss out will be Andy Carroll despite putting in a solid goalscoring performance in the England's last match. The big powerful striker can be expected to be used late on in games when England is in search of a goal and his aerial prowess will be needed. 

After his brilliant impact performance against Sweden, Theo Walcott is line to possibly start the game after overcoming a slight hamstring problem. Hodgson will have to choose between the Arsenal winger and Manchester City utility James Milner who has struggled in the first two games. Milner, however, does provide better defensive coverage than Walcott and this could be the decisive factor in who is selected.

England's defence will be the same as picked in the first two games - Cole, Lescott, Terry, Johnson - and they will be trying to work as a cohesive unit ahead of possible quarter final meetings against either Spain or Italy.

Scott Parker and Steven Gerrard will continue in central midfield with the Tottenham hardman impressing with his work-rate and ball retention in the first two matches.

The Ukrainians have a significant problem with their team selection as it seems their legendary striker Andriy Shevchenko is in doubt and only rated a 50-50 chance to start because of a knee injury.

Ukraine team doctor Leonid Myronov told BBC Sport about Shevchenko, ""I think that Andriy, with all his desire to prove to the country and the whole world that he is a real professional, will do his best to play."

Shevchenko is probably the most revered figure in his nation and I would expect him to start even if he only plays a half. His worth to the team could be significantly impacted by his injury and it's an interesting decision for coach Oleg Blokhin.

The only two players of the squad based outside of Ukraine, former Liverpool player Andriy Voronin and Bayern Munich star Anatoliy Tymoschuk, will start in midfield and will be expected to provide the spark that Ukraine will need to get the win.

Nothing less than a win will be enough for Ukraine as they seek to become a host nation in the quarter finals, after Poland crashed out a few days ago.

PLAYER TO WATCH: DANNY WELBECK

Before the tournament, Danny Welbeck was widely expected to be used off the bench as a replacement for target-man Andy Carroll. We can't be sure if Welbeck's debut international goal in the friendly against Belgium was the factor in his starting berth in England's first two games, but Hodgson decided that Welbeck's movement and hold-up play would be more suited to the style he wanted to play.

The young Manchester United striker put in a great shift playing as a lone striker against France and then scored a spectacular backheel winner against Sweden to make England's passage to the quarter finals in their own hands ahead of their final group game.

With the return of Rooney, the two can be expected to link-up well and provide England's attack with a cutting edge that they haven't had since Michael Owen's glory days.

Watch for Welbeck's brilliant touch and turn, it's one of the best in football and this tournament could be the making of a striker who has all the tricks to become one of the best in the world.

PREDICTION: England 1-0 Ukraine