EURO 2024 daily preview 20 June: What to look out for on Thursday

Spain and Italy meet in the late UEFA EURO 2024 game, while Slovenia take on near-neighbours Serbia and Denmark look to halt England's momentum.

We preview the action in Munich, Frankfurt and Gelsenkirchen.

15:00: Slovenia vs Serbia (Group C, Munich)

Slovenia's spirits are high after they rallied from going behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Denmark in their opening game. "We've proved that we can compete," said forward Andraž Šporar, whose pace may prove useful on Thursday. "We don't need a lot of space to be dangerous up front," he added. "We need to keep it tight and transition quickly. Most of their defenders are slower than we are, and we need to take advantage."

Serbia were beaten 1-0 by group favourites England in their opener, but there was certainly no shame in the way they hustled and harried their opponents, particularly in the second half. "We held up well as a team and showed that we could handle them," midfielder Saša Lukić told EURO2024.com. "We want to be braver than we were against England from the first minute," added defender Nikola Milenković.

Key stat: Slovenia met FR Yugoslavia (forerunner to the current Serbia team) at EURO 2000, taking a 3-0 lead before their ten-man opponents rallied to draw 3-3. Serbia coach Dragan Stojković was a first-half substitute in that match.

18:00: Denmark vs England (Group C, Frankfurt)

Denmark's opener against Slovenia did not go exactly to plan, the goalscoring trail going cold after Christian Eriksen hit their 17th-minute opener, with their rivals rallying to earn a draw. However, the Danes put on a good face at full time, and with a wealth of Premier League experience in their ranks, they will not feel overly cowed. "We've shown that we know how to play," said Mikkel Damsgaard, who plays in England for Brentford. "But we also need to play at our best because this is not a team you can beat if you're at 90%. We all have to be at 100%."

Caution may be advised as they take on Gareth Southgate's England, the rampaging Jude Bellingham having headed their only goal against Serbia after just 13 minutes. Denmark caused England plenty of problems in the EURO 2020 semi-finals, where it took extra time, and a Harry Kane winner on the rebound from a saved penalty, to separate the sides. However, the Three Lions feel the tournament is going their way so far. "Let's keep the momentum," said makeshift midfielder Trent Alexander-Arnold, who added: "We know we need to improve."

Key stat: Denmark have won only four of their 22 official games against England, those results eclipsed by 13 English victories.

21:00: Spain vs Italy (Group B, Gelsenkirchen)

Spanish sports paper Marca was left cooing after Spain's 3-0 curtain-raising win against Croatia, a piece called "La Nueva España" (The New Spain) extolling the front-foot virtues of Luis de la Fuente's side compared with more measured past vintages. "Now we, the media and the fans all share a lot of pride and ambition in what we’re doing," said goalkeeper Unai Simón. "We're all rowing in the same direction. Every player who's here wants to reach the final and win it."

Italy showed their battling qualities to win after conceding inside 23 seconds of their opener against Albania, but while the Azzurri eliminated the 'old' Spain on penalties en route to winning EURO 2020, midfielder Davide Frattesi is under no illusion about what they are up against in Gelsenkirchen. "Right now Spain are better than us in terms of individual players," he said. "We will have to bring the Italian spirit into play; we will need to fight together."

Key stat: Barring shoot-outs, Italy have lost just one of their ten matches against Spain at EUROs or World Cups (W4 D5); that sole defeat came in the final of EURO 2012 (0-4).

Tomorrow

15:00: Slovakia vs Ukraine (Group E, Düsseldorf)
18:00: Poland vs Austria (Group D, Berlin)
21:00: Netherlands vs France (Group D, Leipzig)