Euro U21 Championship final: England vs Spain verdict, predicted score, key stats and suggested bets
- Matty Briggs
- 7 July 2023
England U21s will bid to become the first Young Lions side since the 1984 alumni to win the European Championship if they can beat five-time winners Spain on Saturday.
Lee Carsley leads his England U21s into battle against Spain in Georgia on Saturday in the final of the European Championships.
Date, KO time and TV coverage
U21 Euro 2023 final, 5pm (BST) kick-off on Saturday, July 8, at the Adjarabet Arena, Georgia, live on UEFA.com and UEFA.tv.
Predicted score
Suggested bets
Key stats
England have won all five of their games at the finals and are yet to concede a goal
Spain have won four of their five games, top-scoring with 13 goals
Spain are looking for a record sixth Euro U21 title
England are unbeaten in four previous finals meetings vs Spain
Spain have created the most chances at the tournament (87)
Spain's Abel Ruiz has had 14 goal attempts at the finals
England team news
Lee Carsley has used his squad in the tournament so far and a record-equalling seven different players have scored in these U21 finals.
Jacob Ramsey has been ruled out, but Max Aarons and Ben Johnson will come back into contention after being suspended for the semi-final.
Carsley is blessed by an embarrassment of riches and he has selection dilemmas all over the field. Keeper James Trafford will start again and Levi Colwill and Taylor Harwood-Bellis will be at the heart of an England defence which has yet to concede a goal.
Curtis Jones and Morgan Gibbs-White were the standout players in the semi and will surely start again while Anthony Gordon is also another who will likely start.
England U21 Euro final verdict
England have simply been superb in the tournament to date and are yet to concede a goal.
They were far too strong for Israel in the semi-finals, a team they had already knocked over in the group. The 3-0 scoreline did not flatter the Young Lions, but it was the way they won the game that will ultimately have impressed Gareth Southgate.
England have not won the tournament since Dave Sexton's triumph in 1984, and while Carsley will be desperate to make history on Saturday, England's process has been superb.
The Three Lions have historically used the U21 set-up to prepare players for the senior ranks and such have not been as successful as they might well have expected. But Carsley is managing to do both with the likes of Jones and Gibbs-White looking like the classy performers they have shown on occasions in the Premier League.
The Young Lions' short-passing game has been inspired by the senior side, but it's fair to say the youngsters have eclipsed their older peers. Their possession-based style has been a joy to watch and their ability to draw out the opposition and sweep from one end of the field to the other has been joyous to watch.
Israel tried to sit deep in the semi, but England played around them and they will adopt the same approach against Spain.
Spain will not offer as deep a block, and they do have a significant goal threat in Abel Ruiz, who is the tournament's top scorer with three goals. Sergio Gomez also has three goals but it's the Braga forward who has been the most impressive.
He's a player who can score all kinds of goals and the former Barcelona B star will be on the shopping list of a number of clubs after his displays this summer. If England can keep Ruiz quiet then they look more than capable of taking the title.
It's the first time since 2009 that England have reached the final and they are the evens favourites to lift the trophy; Spain are 6/4 in the outright market.
Spain however, are old hands are reaching the final and their appearance at the Batumi Stadium this weekend will be a record ninth. But their record against England in the tournament is poor.
A draw in the 2011 group stage was preceded by a 2-0 defeat in 2009, while England won 3-0 on aggregate in the 1984 final.
That will have little bearing on Saturday's clash. But we can expect a game with goals against easily the best two teams in the tournament. England have scored 10 times, while Spain's five-goal blast against Ukraine took them to 13 in the tournament.
England though are yet to concede, although they did ride their luck in the quarter-final against Portugal, who were tougher opposition than Israel.
The finalists also have the most goal attempts with Spain leading the way on 87, while England, who have been so clinical to date, have created 62 chances.
Spain have a side packed with experience at winning youth titles. Antonio Blanco, Gomez, Juan Miranda and Ruiz, along with coach Santi Denia, are looking to complete a treble after winning the U17 Euros (2017) and the U19 Euros (2019).
The final should be a brilliant watch, but as of writing, only UEFA have the broadcasting rights. Carsley has already spoken of the regret that his side have not played to a bigger TV audience.
Whether or not they will get the chance to do so remains to be seen, but for those watching the UEFA streams it should be a superb watch and expect England, who are 13/8 to win in 90 mins, to come out on top.
