England captain Wayne Rooney dribbles past Slovakia's Peter Pekarik. (Photo : Getty Images)
England is one of the teams favored to win the 2016 UEFA European Championship this summer and they will have a chance to draw closer to the title as they face dark horse team Iceland at the Allianz Riviera in Nice on June 27, Monday in the round-of-16 phase of the tournament.
The Three Lions finished the group stage in second place behind Wales as they settled to a goalless draw with Slovakia in the third round on Monday at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne, as per Sports Mole.
Head coach Roy Hodgson's men drew with Russia in their opener then beat Gareth Bale's Wales in the second round, 2-1, although there were signs of struggles with the team.
England was able to control much of the ball possession during the early minutes of their three matches, but they seemed to be lacking in fluidity as each game wore on. They always fell short in sealing wins in the final third of the matches especially against Russia and Slovakia, which could be the result of untimely subbing.
The team hopes to overcome that weakness against such a feisty squad like Iceland, who could definitely surprise them and has the ability to send them packing this early in the tournament if they would not be careful.
Iceland is a stunner in the tournament, placing second in Group F with powerhouse teams Portugal and Austria. They drew Cristiano Ronaldo's side during their opener then also pulled off a stalemate with offensive machine Hungary in the second round.
Finally, in the third round, Strákarnir okkar defeated Austria, 2-1, to seal the second spot in the bracket and earn the right to face England in the last 16, ESPN reported.
With the momentum clearly on Iceland's side, Hodgson's squad is at a high risk of getting upset by the boys of Lars Lagerbäck and Heimir Hallgrímsson and the English coach is surely aware of that coming into this match.
Still, the Wembley giants are favored to win a close one as they are expected to start attacking the Icelanders early to try and break them down.
The predicted result is a tight 1-0 victory for England if not on penalties.
England starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Hart; Clyne, Cahill, Smalling, Bertrand; Henderson, Dier, Sterling; Kane, Vardy, Rooney
Iceland starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Halldorsson; Saevarsson, Arnason, R. Sigurdsson, Skulason; Gudmundsson, Gunnarsson, G. Sigurdsson, Bjarnason; Sigborsson, Bodvarsson
