England Women will lock horns with Wales Women on the final matchday of the Women's European Championship group stage. 

The Lionesses enter Sunday's fixture with a strong chance of reaching the knockout rounds, while the Dragons require a miracle to progress to the quarter-finals. 

Match preview

England have progressed from the group stage at three of the last four Women’s Euros, with their only failure in that period taking place in 2013.

The Lionesses are well-placed to make another knockout round appearance despite beginning the tournament with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to France.

After suffering the first Women’s Euros defeat of her managerial career, Sarina Wiegman would have been delighted with the response her players produced in Wednesday’s 4-0 dominant win over the Netherlands.

Alessia Russo netted three assists in a game where Lauren James netted a brace alongside goals from Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone.

As a result of the victory, England are currently sitting in second position and level on points with third-placed Netherlands, leaving them three points adrift of France and three points clear of Wales. 

The Lionesses know that a win would be enough to secure a place in the last-16, but a failure to secure all three points would open the door to Netherlands, while a defeat by four goals or more would see them drop below Wales.

England have struggled for consistency with three wins in the last six matches, although they have proven a tough team to stop in the final third, having scored 26 goals across their previous seven games. 

Wales' first experience of a women's major tournament is likely to end on Sunday, unless they can produce a seismic shock in their meeting with the reigning European champions.

The Dragons began the campaign with a heavy 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands, before they experienced another disappointing result in Wednesday's clash against France, despite showing great character with their dogged performance.

Jess Fishlock scored Wales' first major tournament goal to cancel out Clara Mateo's opener, but just as they thought they had made it to the break on level terms, they gave away a penalty to open the door for Kadidiatou Diani to restore France's advantage.

Les Bleues then made a fast start to the second period to add two more goals to their tally, condemning Wales to a 4-1 defeat and leaving them on the brink of a group-stage exit.

Rhian Wilkinson's side need to beat England by at least four goals and hope Netherlands lose to France if they are to snatch second spot in Group D.

Realistically, Wales will find it difficult to pull off such a scoreline against England, but they will still be hungry to end their eight-game winless run by pulling off an upset to claim their first victory at a major tournament. 

England Women Women's European Championship form:

England Women form (all competitions):

Wales Women Women's European Championship form:

Wales Women form (all competitions):

Team News

Toone should retain her place in the starting lineup, with Wiegman likely to name an unchanged lineup for the final group. 

Jess Carter will continue in central defence after she swapped positions with Alex Greenwood, who moved over to play at left-back for the win over the Netherlands. 

After seeing goals disallowed in the opening two group matches, Russo will be hoping to open her account for the tournament when she leads the line against Wales.

Wales will have to assess the fitness of Hayley Ladd, who was an unused substitute for the recent defeat to France.

Olivia Clark, Hannah Cain and Rhiannon Roberts are all pushing for recalls after dropping down to the bench on Wednesday.

Fishlock will continue to offer one of Wales’ main goal threats after becoming the oldest goalscorer in Women’s European Championship history.

England Women possible starting lineup:

Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Carter, Greenwood; Toone, Walsh, Stanway; James, Hemp, Russo

Wales Women possible starting lineup:

Middleton-Patel; Green, Roberts, Evans, Woodham; Rowe, James, Fishlock; Holland, F. Morgan, Cain

We say: England Women 3-0 Wales Women

England have struggled for consistency in recent times, but they would have taken significant confidence from their commanding win over the Netherlands, and we think they will continue to build momentum by claiming a comfortable victory over Wales, which would enable them to continue the defence of their European Championship crown. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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