England vs Italy LIVE: Wembley release statement after ‘temporary lockdown’
England train ahead of Italy Euro final
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England face Italy in the Euro 2020 final as they look to end 55 years of hurt by winning a first major tournament since the 1966 World Cup. Gareth Southgate’s men can create history by lifting the trophy at Wembley in front of a packed house.
England have been in fine form en route to the final, conceding just one goal, which was a stunning free-kick from Denmark in the semi-finals.
The Three Lions have looked solid in every round and even dominated against old foes Germany with a 2-0 victory in the last-16.
Southgate’s one slight blip came in the goalless group stage draw with neighbours Scotland.
Meanwhile, Italy won all three of their group games – against Turkey, Switzerland and Wales – without conceding a goal.
They then knocked out Austria and Belgium before edging past Spain on penalties in the semi-final.
Managed by former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini, Italy will fancy their chances at Wembley.
But Southgate, backed by 60,000 supporters, will hope to bring football home.
England vs Italy LIVE
- England have never won the European Championship
- Italy are unbeaten in 33 games and have had to beat the likes of Belgium and Spain to reach the final
- Reports coming in of chaos on Wembley Way with drunk fans causing a scene ahead of kick off
- England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Phillips, Rice, Shaw; Mount, Sterling, Kane.
6.40pm: BREAKING. We have England’s team, and as expected Gareth Southgate has brought in Kieran Trippier for Bukayo Saka.
That means a change in formation from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3, with Mason Mount moving forward to fill Saka’s position on the right of attack.
Kyle Walker will play at right centre-back, with Luke Shaw pushing forward to play as a wing-back on the left.
England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Phillips, Rice, Shaw; Mount, Sterling, Kane.
6.37pm: You can read more about the chaotic scenes at Wembley in our news story here.
6.33pm: We’ve now received a statement from Wembley Stadium about the trouble on Wembley Way.
“We are dealing with an incident which occurred at the outer perimeter area of the stadium, with support from the police.
“Safety measures were quickly activated in the relevant areas and there were no security breaches of people without tickets getting inside the stadium.”
ITV are reporting that the stadium has gone into ‘temporary lockdown’. We’ll give you more once we have it.
6.29pm: Watch the video below to get a taste of the chaotic scenes outside Wembley right now, with stewards and police struggling to deal with fans intent on breaking into the stadium.
Hopefully things will get under control once the majoirity of ticket holders are inside the stadium.
6.24pm: Right, onto the football. The BBC’s coverage has started and after a predictable Gary Lineker intro, we have ourselves a scene-setting montage.
Lovely stuff. Just over 90 minutes to go until kick-off.
6.18pm: We’re getting plenty of reports of unsavoury scenes outside Wembley right now, with fans fighting, littering and trying to gain access into the stadium.
Chris Kamara says he had to dogde bottles to get into the ground, while there have been multiple videoes of stewards and police struggling to deal with surging fans.
6.12pm: The 8pm kick-off time always had the potential to cause problems outside Wembley, with England fans waiting all day for the big game.
It seems the occasion has got to some, with a group of fans videoed breaking fences to try and get past stewards and police into the stadium.
You can read the Express’ breaking news story here.
6pm: England have been very fortunate not to have any serious injury concerns throughout this Euro 2020 campaign.
However, Southgate says Manchester City attacker Phil Foden is a doubt for tonight’s match after skipping training on Saturday.
The Three Lions could stick with four at the back so they can match up Italy’s three-man midfield, or switch to a 3-4-3 formation.
There have been reports that Bukayo Saka could be replaced by Kieran Trippier, with Southgate switching to a three-man defence.
Of course, we will provide the team news as soon as it lands.
5.45pm: Good evening and welcome to Express Sport’s live coverage of England against Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
Gareth Southgate will be hoping that home advantage will count so the Three Lions can end 55 years of hurt.
Not since the 1966 World Cup have England even featured in a major tournament final.
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