England U21 vs Romania U21
European Under-21 Championship
Venue: Stadio Dino Manuzzi, Cesena
Date: Friday 21 June, 2019
Kick-off: 5:30pm BST
England find themselves in must-win territory at the European Under-21 Championship as they take on Romania in Cesena, northern Italy on Friday afternoon.
The Young Lions - semi-finalists in 2017 - looked to be heading for a valuable opening Group C victory over France at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi on Tuesday after Dean Henderson saved a Moussa Dembele penalty and Phil Foden put them ahead with a brilliant finish early in the second half.
However, England then saw Hamza Choudhury sent off for a woeful challenge on Jonathan Bamba and Houssem Aouar missed another French spot-kick during a frantic second half before Jonathan Ikone's effort and a last-gasp Aaron Wan-Bissaka own goal sealed a gut-wrenching defeat for Aidy Boothroyd's side.
They will have to quickly banish memories of that demoralising late loss ahead of the clash with Romania, with only group winners and the best runners-up qualifying for the semi-finals.
Romania, by contrast, will be full of confidence after routing Croatia 4-1 at the Olimpico di Serravalle in San Marino, with George Puscas, Gheorghe's son Ianis Hagi, Tudor Baluta and Adrian Petre all on the scoresheet.
England team news and line-up
England XI: Henderson, DaSilva, Clarke-Salter, Tomori, Dowell, Gray, Maddison, Kenny, Barnes, Mount, Calvert-Lewin
Subs: Wan-Bissaka, Solanke, Foden, Sessegnon, Gunn, Kelly, Konsa, Gibbs-White, Nelson, Woodman, Abraham
England Squad
Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Southampton), Dean Henderson (Man Utd), Freddie Woodman (Newcastle)
Defenders: Jake Clarke-Salter (Chelsea), Jay Dasilva (Chelsea), Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth), Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), Ezri Konsa (Brentford), Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace)
Midfielders: Harvey Barnes (Leicester), Hamza Choudhury (Leicester), Kieran Dowell (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Morgan Gibbs-White (Wolves), James Maddison (Leicester), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Chelsea), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Demarai Gray (Leicester), Reiss Nelson (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth)
Score prediction: England U21 2-1 Romania U21
England must win to have any chance of progressing through to the last four.
They should manage it with one or two tweaks in attacking personnel, though will be wary of Romania's threat after that impressive defeat of Croatia.
England U21 vs Romania U21 tickets
For European Under-21 Championship ticket information, click here.
Betting tips via Betfair | UK users only | Subject to change
Match odds
- England to win: 40/85
- Draw: 7/2
- Romania to win: 11/2
First goalscorer odds
- Tammy Abraham: 7/2
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 7/2
- Dominic Solanke: 4/1
- Ryan Sessegnon: 11/2
- Reiss Nelson: 13/2
Click here to find the latest match odds and place a bet.
TV channel and live stream, and online coverage
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports' Football channel, and is available via Now TV with a day pass on offer for £8.99.
Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via SkyGo and the SkyGo app.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
England's U21s beat their Romanian counterparts 2-1 in a friendly at Molineux in March 2018 thanks to goals from Demarai Gray and Jake Clarke-Salter.
They also triumphed on aggregate during the play-offs for the 2011 Euros and in qualifying back in 1986.
Romania's only victory over England at this level came six years earlier, in 1980. Alexandru Terhes netted a hat-trick on that occasion.
