The European Championships have reached the business end of the competition as the quarter-finals loom large.

Belgium, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark and Czech Republic will do battle for their spot in the top four, while England will also be part of the run-in when they take on Ukraine on Saturday night.

In a big clash in Rome, Gareth Southgate’s side will go head-to-head with Andriy Shevchenko’s underdogs as they look to set up a clash against the winners of the Denmark vs Czech tie in the final four at Wembley

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Route to the final:

Ukraine were the plucky underdogs in their group but they were able to come through as one of the best third-placed teams in the competition.

An opening game defeat to the Oranje saw an entertaining 3-2 game go against them, but they bounced back with a comfortable win over North Macedonia before losing again to Austria. They made it through to the last eight thanks to a 120th minute winner against Sweden in a 2-1 victory.

England on the other hand are unbeaten and the only team in the tournament yet to concede a goal. They got a win against Croatia in the opening game, before a 0-0 draw against Scotland. They then topped the group with a win over the Czech Republic, before a fantastic performance saw them despatch of Germany 2-0, with Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane getting their third and first goals of the tournament respectively.

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Team news:

Ukraine will be hopeful that their captain and star man Andriy Yarmolenko is fit to play after he limped off with an injury in the round of 16 tie. Denys Popov and Artem Besedin are ruled out while Oleksandr Zubov is a doubt.

England have a fully fit squad to choose from but must be careful as Harry Maguire, Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Phil Foden a yellow card away from missing the semi-final. Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell are available to start after their isolation period ended on the day of the Germany game.

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Predicted Lineups:

Ukraine: Bushchan; Zabarnyi, Kryvtsov, Matvienko; Karavaev, Shaparenko, Stepanenko, Sydorchuk, Zinchenko; Yaremchuk, Yarmolenko

England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Henderson; Saka, Mount, Sterling; Kane.

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Prediction:

Andriy Shevchenko has made his team incredibly difficult to beat despite them losing half their games in the tournament so far. They defend well, counter attack even better and have a fantastic spirit and level of togetherness in the squad.

With that said, England have been excellent despite not being spectacular. Defensively they’ve barely been tested and while they’ve not exactly created a host of chances in their games so far, they’re taking the ones that do fall to them.

Gareth Southgate’s side are the favourites but they have got far more quality in the squad, better options off the bench, more tactical flexibility and the idea of a home semi-final and final to work towards. They should come away with a convincing win after a nervy period somewhere in the middle of the game.

Ukraine 0-2 England