Euro 2020: Why England CAN beat Germany in the Round of 16

England take on Germany at Wembley on Tuesday in their Euro 2020 Round of 16 tie, and the Three Lions will be looking to erase their tournament demons against the Germans to progress to the Quarterfinals.

England have not exactly convinced during the group stage, scoring only 2 goals, but did finish with 7 points and without conceding a goal to win Group D.

Germany, like England, failed to convince but struggled more in the ‘Group of Death’, finishing on 4 points, and only making it through thanks to a late goal from Leon Goretzka to draw against Hungary.

England have not beaten Germany in a major tournament for a long time and whilst stories of Euro 96 and Gareth Southgate’s missed penalty will be flying around, the Three Lions do have a good chance of getting pass this inconsistent German side.

Home Advantage

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England are at Wembley, with an increased crowd of around 40,000 fans and it’s time to utilise it. We’re always going to go on about the past and about our last home European Championships, where we fell short to the Germans, but the home fans can make a real difference here.

For the past 18 months, footballers have played with minimum to zero fans in the stands so there is a chance to make a real difference. In Germany’s group, which included France, Portugal and Hungary, every time a team travelled to play against Hungary, who were playing at home, the fans very much made a difference.

In Budapest, 60,000 fans were in attendance for each game, and it no doubt, made it very difficult for the opposing team and England will need to create the same sort of atmosphere tomorrow. Fans can often help a team on the pitch but no more than ever, make it hostile for the German side and it can only aid the Three Lions.

German Arrogance

Despite Germany’s rather below par showing in the group stage, there is no doubting the quality they have in their squad, and the German Press strongly believe it will be more than enough to undo England.

Reports said that after the Germans drew with Hungary, the game that set up this clash, there were many happy in the Germany squad., if not smug about the fact they had ended up playing England in the next round,

England will be well aware of this, we’re in a world where news and rumours spread like wildfire and this is something that England should embrace, accept that they think they can walk all over you and use it, channel it and let it give you that step up.

Germany can come into this with all the confidence in the world, but they have been susceptible to this tournament on many occasions and if England can keep control of their emotions, then there is no reason the Three Lions can’t use the opposition’s confidence to their advantage.

Quality on the Bench

Both sides have a lot of quality, be that old or young. Germany have the likes of Mats Hummels and Toni Kroos with a wealth of experience, alongside Serge Gnabry, who scored 5 when he last played at Wembley and Kai Havertz, who plays along with some of the England players at Chelsea.

So, the Germans have quality, but so do England, and an abundance of it. Going forward England’s options are immense, so much so the question of who will start in the front 4 positions is up for debate daily. The point is that no matter who starts, we have so much quality on the bench that can change the game in a second.

So, whoever England start on Tuesday, if you’re in the stands get behind them, because there’s a real ‘why not?’ atmosphere going on at the moment. If we’re down, remember what we have on the side, there is always hope.

England have a real chance, so let us go for it. We have a team that’s young and energetic that will get better and better, so believe in them and why can’t we beat the Germans? Why not?