Euro 2020 Day 9 - Saturday 19 June

Not quite as exciting a day of football yesterday but some intriguing moments and results nevertheless. Croatia's draw with the Czech Republic may not be enough to for the Croats to go through. Their final group game against Scotland now becomes a knockout as they'll both need to win. Croatia did show what they are capable off with a great equalising goal from Ivan Perisic. The Croats can feel a bit unlucky as the Czech goal came from a harshly given penalty. The standard of refereeing in the tournament has been great so far. The refs have let the games flow with attacking teams getting the advantage. VAR has been used to well to clear up unclear decisions like offsides that have led to goals and penalty appeals. It hasn't taken long for Refs to come to a decision by using VAR and we haven't seen the ridiculously long pauses and baffling decisions that blighted domestic leagues this season. I didn't think though that the penalty awarded to the Czechs for an elbow to Patrik Schick's face was fair. There is no doubt that defender Dejan Lovren caught Schick but both used their elbows to go for the ball and the Czech striker came off worse. There was no intent or foul play there. Other than that the way VAR has been used in this Competition shows technology in football can be effective. It just has to be managed correctly. Schick took the penalty himself and is now the tournaments top scorer with three goals and still has the goal of the tournament so far. Sweden got another great result beating a strong Slovakian side 1 - 0. The game was close but the Swedes showed much more attacking threat than they did against Spain and now have 4 points. Group E is so tightly poised now because if there is a win between Spain and Poland today they'll be just a point between three teams. Finally there was England V Scotland. Much hyped with repeats of the Euro 96 game being constantly replayed up until kick off, it ended up being a bit of a damp squib. Scotland played much better than in their first game with Che Adams starting the game up front and giving the Scots a much needed focal point. There is no doubt England have more talent but they struggled to create anything clear cut. In the second half in particular England were slow and played too many sideways passes. Phil Foden showed some excellent touches, beating players with skill on occasion only to have noone to pass to. The lack of movement from England was concerning and they failed to create chances for Harry Kane. Grealish gave a bit of impetus when he came on. His trademark mazy runs won freekicks and caused problems but it was too little too late. I would like to see both Foden and Grealish play in the final game to inject a bit of creativity. Predictably the backlash from England fans on social media has been fierce. There is no need to panic though. Four points from two games with no goals conceded is not that bad. England will get out of this group. Yes it was pedestrian and boring to watch but they have a chance to improve on that against the Czechs on Tuesday.

Today's matches are interesting because some big teams are in danger of going out if they lose today.

Hungary V France - Group F - Kick off at 1400 ftom Ferenc Puskás Stadium, Budapest. Live on BBC One and BBC One Iplayer.

France looked strong in their first game which ended in victory over Germany. Whilst it was a narrow 1 - 0 win France looked like they had way more to give. They had the ball in the net twice after. the goal and whilst both were correctly ruled out for offside, it showed how dangerous they can be. Germany had more possession in that game but France never looked rattled. Right back Benjamin Pavard is a doubt for this game after being concussed in the first match, In that case Lyon defender Léo Dubois could come in. Dubois is an excellent crosser of the ball so would Deschamps think about bringing Giroud in to the game at some point? He's more of a target man than the other French forwards and could thrive off Dubois' delivery. I doubt Giroud will start but will be interested to see if he comes on in the later stages. Whoever France play though they should win here and confirm their spot in the knockout rounds. Hungary were dogged in their opener against Portugal thwarting wave after wave of attack.. The Hungarians thought they'd taken the lead in the 80th minute but it was ruled out for offside. When Portugal finally broke the deadlock four minutes later they smelt blood and ran out 3 - 0 winners. Poor Hungary. Stuck in a group with Germany, France and Portugal what chance did they have? They played with pride though and will go all out here in front of their own fans. France will just have too much for them though as long as they are not complacent.

Frenchfooty prediction: Hungary 0 V France 3.

Portugal V Germany - Group F - Kick off at 1700 from Allianz Arena, Munich. Live on ITV and ITV HUB.

As mentioned above Portugal left it late to beat Hungary in their opening game but played well eventually running out 3 - 0 winners. They have so much attacking talent but are decent at the back too with Rúben Dias marshalling the back four. Portugal are the reigning Champions but look a better side to me than they were 5 years ago. They don't need to rely on Cristiano Ronaldo as much with players like Jota, Silva and Fernandes. Germany didn't play badly in their first game but didn't quite do enough to get something against France. They really need to get something here to be sure of progressing from the group stage. This is by far the hardest group in the tournament and we could see three teams qualify. A point for the Germans here and a win in their next game against Hungary could see them through. Lose though and it could be difficult. I wonder if Coach Joachim Loew will be tempted to start with winger Leroy Sane instead of Gosens on the left. They are both good players but Sane gives a more direct, attacking threat with his pace. This game is so hard to call. Portuguese flair against German pragmatism may be a bit unfair as Portugal can defend and the Germans to have quality in attack. The latter don't have a prolific goal scorer though whilst Portugal do in Ronaldo. Could that be the difference or will Germany dig in and get the result they need? Whatever the outcome of this match it will be fascinating to see how the table looks at full time.

French footy prediction: Portugal 1 V Germany 1

Spain V Poland - Group E - Kick off at 2000 from Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville. Live on BBC One and BBC One Iplayer.

These are the two sides that I would have expected to be leading the group. Spain played brilliantly at times against Sweden but could not finish their chances. Poland have the out and out goal scorer that Spain lack in Lewandowski but couldn't create the chances for him against Slovakia. The Poles weren't helped by the sending off of Grzegorz Krychowiak just after the hour mark and will be without him for this game. Poland struggled to break down Slovakia's stubborn defence. The Poles will surely be less defensive than the Swedes were against Spain as they really need a result here. That should favour Spain who do look fantastic on the ball. The Spaniard's movement and passing in their first game was great. I was particularly impressed with right back Llorente getting forward and causing problems for Sweden. Spain just really need a goal. If they can get it then they'll be confident of winning. It was interesting to hear Spanish football expert Guillem Balague talk about Spain's chances before their first game. He said that Spanish fans don't expect too much of this side and will forgive them for not going far as they are young. That must help the players play with freedom. Out of all the football that has been played in this tournament so far, watching Spain in the first half against Sweden was the most enjoyable for me. Hopefully we'll see that again tonight but with an end product.

Frenchfooty prediction Spain 2 - Poland 1.