List of All Articles with Tag 'epsocmag'

Manchester United travel to Newcastle United this evening as both sides look to put weeknight Champions League woes behind them and consolidate form in the Premier League. Newcastle go into the game a point behind Manchester United in the table, although they have lost one fewer game than Erik ten Hag’s men. But at St James’ Park, Newcastle have been a powerhouse this season, winning six of their matches at home, and losing just one, having netted 14 goals in the process. Both sides have been dealing with injury concerns this season, although Magpie woes are more acute, they were forced to field teenagers on the bench against Paris Saint Germain in midweek, and were unable to make any tactical substitutions. Eddie Howe will be without 11 players for the match, while Ten Hag has been able to welcome back Luke Shaw in recent weeks, but United could be without seven senior members of the squad. Follow all the live action from St James’ Park in the blog below and get the latest odds and tips for the game here. Read More Is Newcastle v Manchester United on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch Premier League fixture Anthony Gordon can make England statement by outshining Marcus Rashford Erik ten Hag sticks up for under-fire Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana

Newcastle United and Manchester United meet in a vital Premier League fixture after dramatic draws in midweek European action. Newcastle were denied at the death against Paris Saint-Germain by a controversial penalty, while Erik ten Hag’s side shared six goals in a thrilling game at Galatasaray. LIVE! Follow coverage of Newcastle vs Man Utd with our blog The pair return to league action hoping to build on encouraging wins last time out, with Newcastle a single point behind their visitors. Manchester United are yet to draw a game this season and may spy an opportunity to secure a significant win on the road with the home side dealing with a number of injuries. Here’s everything you need to know. Get the latest Newcastle vs Manchester United odds and tips here. When is Newcastle vs Manchester United? Newcastle vs Manchester United is due to kick off at 8pm GMT on Saturday 2 December at St James’ Park. How can I watch it? Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage on the channel from 7pm GMT. Subscribers can stream the action via discovery+. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider. Confirmed line-ups Newcastle XI: Pope, Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Livramento, Miley, Guimaraes, Joelinton, Almiron, Isak, Gordon Man Utd XI: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Dalot, Maguire, Shaw, Mainoo, McTominay, Fernandes, Garnacho, Rashford, Martial Odds Newcastle win 10/11 Draw 11/4 Manchester United win 14/5 Get the latest football betting sites offers here. Prediction A first Premier League draw of the season for Manchester United. Newcastle 2-2 Manchester United Read More Newcastle v Man United LIVE: Premier League latest updates Newcastle boss Eddie Howe believes more VAR ‘would ruin the game’ Anthony Gordon can make England statement by outshining Marcus Rashford Newcastle did not deserve penalty heartbreak - they were robbed by VAR Champions League: What do Man United, Arsenal and Newcastle need to reach last 16? Alan Shearer rages at ‘disgusting’ penalty decision as Newcastle denied famous win

The 2023/24 Premier League season is under way and you can follow every game and every goal right here with The Independent. This year sees Manchester City try to defend their crown and claim a historic fourth title in succession. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City, who also won the Champions League and FA Cup last season, will have to see off Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and the rest to claim an unprecedented sixth league title in seven years. Meanwhile Luton Town are making their first appearance in the Premier League, having risen from non-league in an incredible decade of progress. They followed Championship winners Burnley and second-placed Sheffield United in earning promotion to the top flight. Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.

The 2023/24 Premier League season is under way and you can follow every game and every goal right here with The Independent. This year sees Manchester City try to defend their crown and claim a historic fourth title in succession. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City, who also won the Champions League and FA Cup last season, will have to see off Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and the rest to claim an unprecedented sixth league title in seven years. Meanwhile Luton Town are making their first appearance in the Premier League, having risen from non-league in an incredible decade of progress. They followed Championship winners Burnley and second-placed Sheffield United in earning promotion to the top flight. Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.

The 2023/24 Premier League season is under way and you can follow every game and every goal right here with The Independent. This year sees Manchester City try to defend their crown and claim a historic fourth title in succession. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City, who also won the Champions League and FA Cup last season, will have to see off Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and the rest to claim an unprecedented sixth league title in seven years. Meanwhile Luton Town are making their first appearance in the Premier League, having risen from non-league in an incredible decade of progress. They followed Championship winners Burnley and second-placed Sheffield United in earning promotion to the top flight. Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.

The 2023/24 Premier League season is under way and you can follow every game and every goal right here with The Independent. This year sees Manchester City try to defend their crown and claim a historic fourth title in succession. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City, who also won the Champions League and FA Cup last season, will have to see off Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and the rest to claim an unprecedented sixth league title in seven years. Meanwhile Luton Town are making their first appearance in the Premier League, having risen from non-league in an incredible decade of progress. They followed Championship winners Burnley and second-placed Sheffield United in earning promotion to the top flight. Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.

As legends like Gianluigi Buffon and Miroslav Klose start to decide what Euro 2024 will look like, most of its audience will be watching the Premier League and the other domestic competitions. That will of course change by June, but 5pm Saturday is a strange time for a draw, that maybe touches on the strange place both the competition and Uefa are in right now. It’s not even like this draw holds the anxiety supporters used to associate with such events for major nations like England. That isn’t down to how good Gareth Southgate’s team are right now, either. No matter what names come out, over half of the competition will be spent eliminating a third of the field. The 36-game group stage will see 16 teams out of 24 go through to the next round. It is literally harder to get knocked out. That has of course been the case for most of the qualification campaign, a problem when a competition has been so expanded. It almost feels like it would be better to just finally push the Euros out to a more symmetrical 32 teams and considerably shorten the way you get there. As it is, Buffon and Klose will almost be deciding another preliminary stage in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall on Saturday. It should be acknowledged that Euro 2020 was immediately an entertaining tournament but it was still lopsided and it’s hard not to put part of the emotion down to the fact it was one of the first major events with crowds after Covid. Euro 2024 draw LIVE: England, Scotland and Wales discover finals opponents for Germany Before it, the first 24-team Euros in 2016 had mostly been a drab competition in terms of the football, characterised by low-scoring games where a series of smaller national sides played defensively reductive tactics. Wales, still having to go through the interminable play-offs for this, were one of the exceptions. They still wistfully talk about their time in France eight years ago. It was certainly difficult to fault the setting, and it is much the same with this. That is why Euro 2024 is a bit of a watershed. It is the first “traditional” tournament - to use the words of one federation head - in eight years. In the time between, there has been a World Cup in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. While anyone who was there would say that did an important job of reminding me people the country and its culture are always different to the state, events since have meant it will now be seen as a modern 1936 Olympics. The Russian national team’s absence from all this due to the suspension for the invasion of Ukraine are a reminder of that. Resentments still linger within Uefa over a recent attempt to bring back youth sides. Euro 2020 was then a continent-traversing competition, that the governing body have vowed never to do again. Aside from obvious environmental concerns, to go with the Covid restrictions, it diluted that sense of a nationwide party that comes with more self-contained tournaments. Not that there was much of a party in Qatar for the World Cup that followed. Very few fans travelled, and the legacy of that tournament commonly perceived is a litany of migrant labour abuses. None of this is to say western Europe is perfect, but you only have to compare the atmosphere around Doha with that of Germany for the 2006 World Cup. That is the memory that frames these Euros. Even a relative lack of excitement about the draw is tempered by the anticipation of a similarly great summer next year. That is where there is a little twist to this, though. Germany now finds itself on the more complicated other side of the process that led to that joyous Sommermarchen of 2006. Then, a national football talent programme combined with a football construction boom, to foster a love for an exhilarating new team as well as a sense of reunified nation finally coming together after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Now, some of it is coming apart. Most immediately, the team hasn’t been good. None of those tournaments since 2016 have seen Germany get past the last 16, and the two World Cups brought elimination at the group stage. The old certainties about their national team have gone. You have frequently been able to write them off. You can’t even write about the coming talent in the same way, as Germany has been engulfed by debate over the type of players they produce. Federation officials have been sent abroad to figure out how you produce number-nines again. Julian Nagelsmann, for all his talented sophistication, isn't necessarily a rallying coach. Much more seriously, this has fed into some distasteful national debates about immigration and national identity, that has touched previous stars like Mesut Ozil. It is also known that there was tension regarding the decision to make a gesture over the rainbow armbands in Qatar. Far from the happiness of 2006, there are now fears of hooliganism in the build-up to the competition, fired by incidents like Eintracht Frankfurt fans before last season’s Europa League final. To bring it all full circle, there is also tension between the Bundesliga and the national federation, when it was their own unification under one umbrella that was seen as crucial to rebooting German football before 2006. It has got to the point where the 24 qualified nations may not even use Bundesliga training grounds. And yet, it’s still Germany. There’s still a talent like Jamal Musiala. It’s still so easy to get around. The country remains blessed with the kind of infrastructure that most other nations would dream of, so they could host a tournament just as easily. It will be hard for Uefa not to put on a show. This is precisely where there is also pressure on Uefa, however, to feed into the hint of growing dissatisfaction against Aleksander Ceferin. The governing body has recently found it difficult to get events right. While Euro 2020 was initially organised relatively smoothly, the final at Wembley was a near-disaster. The following year’s Champions League final in Paris was even worse, and everyone was fortunate there wasn’t loss of life. The chaos around this year’s showpiece in Istanbul, then, showed a lot of lessons hadn’t been learned. It summed up a sense that the European body, previously a model of that sort of technocratic competence, wasn’t properly anticipating obvious problems. This all comes amid growing fissures in the political infrastructure. There is a growing belief that Ceferin has been too self-satisfied since the victory over the Super League in April 2021. That crisis was precipitated by problems that came from financial disparity in European football, an issue that has got worse over the Slovenian’s seven years. The 2024 Champions League reforms are meanwhile commonly viewed as just institutionalising the Super League in another way. Ceferin is also being privately criticised by complacent reactions to huge issues like multi-club ownerships and the threat of the Saudi Pro League. It is known that the subject of whether the kingdom’s clubs would ever come into the Champions League was at least raised in informal circles near the top of Uefa. That prospect was rejected, over a fear of a LIV Golf situation. Saturday’s draw will bring all of the federation heads together, and a lot of private chats about all of this. Many are currently raising questions over whether Ceferin will pursue another term in 2027. The rules stipulate that any federation president can only serve three terms, and Ceferin came in halfway through one after the fall of Michel Platini. Other executives within European football are already talking about how it would be "bad governance" if he sought another term and tried to stay in power. If this seems a long way from the opening game in Munich on 14 June, it has influenced international football. The concentration of resources in pockets of western Europe has had an effect, as have Uefa’s policies on development. It is a slightly strange era in international football, where there is a huge middle class in terms of quality and not many truly elite sides. France and England are the obvious favourites, and will be the two teams everyone else wants to avoid. That landscape may change in the long months until the Euros start, and good sides can quickly develop. That was witnessed with the defending champions, Italy, in 2021. The current landscape is still what everyone travelling to Hamburg is surveying right now. As it is, a worst-case group for England would probably be Denmark, Netherlands and Italy. A best case might be Albania, Slovenia and a play-off winner. For Scotland - or potentially Wales after their play-offs - the hope will be to avoid France, Denmark and Italy but they might fancy Belgium and Albania. England should still get through regardless. Southgate has bigger ambitions. The main consequence of Saturday will be sorting logistics, as well as travel between games and their first-choice base in the Black Forest. Again, it is still Germany, though. That just comes with a few more complications than before. Read More When is the Euro 2024 draw and what are the pots? Anthony Gordon can make England statement by outshining Marcus Rashford England’s Euro 2024 squad: Who’s on the plane, who’s in contention and who has work to do? Uefa announces changes to Women’s Champions League and second European competition Police charge more than 40 away fans after major disorder outside Villa Park Liverpool’s Europa League job is done, but Mohamed Salah is just short of milestone

There are still three places in the Euro 2024 finals up for grabs following the end of the group-stage of the qualifying campaign. Wales could yet join England and Scotland in the hat for the Euro 2024 draw, but Rob Page’s side will need to navigate the play-offs if they are to reach a fourth major tournament in eight years. That’s because Wales finished behind Turkey and Croatia in qualifying from Group D, but the Dragons have been afforded a second-chance thanks to their performance in the Uefa Nations League. Wales are guaranteed a home semi-final after taking their place in play-off ‘Path A’ - but Thursday’s draw will determine who they face in March’s play-off rounds, while Poland and Robert Lewandowski could be waiting in the final. Here’s everything you need to know. Who has qualified for Euro 2024? Pot 1: Germany (hosts), Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium, England Pot 2: Hungary, Turkey, Romania, Denmark, Albania, Austria Pot 3: Netherlands, Scotland, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic Pot 4: Italy, Serbia, Switzerland, Play-off winner A*, Play-off winner B*, Play-off winner C* Who could still qualify? Semi-finals – Path A: Poland (1) vs Estonia (4) / Wales (2) vs TBC* Semi-finals – Path B: Israel (1) vs TBC* / Bosnia and Herzegovina (2) vs TBC* Semi-finals – Path C: Georgia (1) vs Luxembourg (4) / Greece (2) vs Kazakhstan (3) TBC* = one of Finland, Ukraine or Iceland How do the Euro 2024 play-offs work? There is still space for three teams to join the Euro 2024 draw, with three separate ‘paths’ offering those sides who qualified for the play-offs a way into the tournament finals. There will be six semi-finals on 21 March 2024 and three finals on 26 March, with the winning teams entering the Euro 2024 group stage. When is the play-off draw? This will be held from 11am GMT on Thursday 23 November. The only thing to draw is which side from Finland, Ukraine or Iceland goes into ‘Path A’ and which of the other two go into ‘Path B’. The draw will also determine which winner of the semi-final hosts the play-off final. *If Finland are allocated to Path B by the draw, as the higher-ranked team they would play Bosnia and Herzegovina, and whichever of Ukraine or Iceland are allocated to Path B would play top-ranked Israel. If Ukraine and Iceland are both allocated to Path B, the higher-ranked Ukraine would play Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iceland would play Israel. Read More What time is the Euro 2024 draw and what are the pots? Euro 2024 draw: Top seeds England could face Scotland and Wales What are Scotland’s best and worst scenarios in the Euro 2024 draw? What are England’s best and worst case scenarios in Euro 2024 draw? Euro 2024: The cheapest ways to follow England and Scotland in Germany next summer Why winless Iceland are in Euro 2024 play-offs and 10-point Norway are not

England must beat the Netherlands at Wembley to keep their hopes of topping their Women’s Nations League group and qualifying for next summer’s Olympics alive. The Lionesses suffered a shock defeat to Belgium last month, having also been beaten by the Dutch in September, and sit third in Group A1 after four games. The Lionesses have suffered a World Cup hangover and their first real dip in form after going unbeaten in their first 30 matches under Sarina Wiegman. It means England face must-win games against the Netherlands tonight and Scotland at Hampden on Tuesday to have any hope of topping Nations League Group A1- but they also need results to go their way. England sit three points behind the Netherlands and one point behind Belgium with two games remaining and the Lionesses must reach the Nations League final to secure Great Britain a place at next summer’s Games. Follow all the live action in the blog below and here are the England vs Netherlands latest odds. Read More What do the Lionesses need to do for Team GB to qualify for the Olympics? The Lionesses are back in ‘must-win’ mode: Here’s why it can suit them Beth Mead on her England return: ‘The things I’ve dealt with have made me a stronger person’

Everton have appealed against the club’s 10-point deduction in the Premier League. An independent commission imposed a 10-point deduction on Everton with immediate effect after breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules. The club were sanctioned on November 17 for a breach of the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules and have 14 days to lodge an appeal. The club confirmed they were “shocked and disappointed” by the ruling, which left them in the relegation zone, having previously sat 14th in the table and eight points above the bottom three. A statement from the club read: “Everton Football Club has today lodged with the Chair of the Premier League’s Judicial Panel its appeal of the decision by a Premier League Commission to impose a 10-point deduction on the Club. An Appeal Board will now be appointed to hear the case.” The decision has been criticised by many, including mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who hit out at the Premier League by claims that it is guilty of “regulatory malpractice” and “abuse of process”. The league responded by insisting that it “entirely refuted his allegations.” Burnham, an Everton season-ticket holder, wrote an open letter to Premier League chair Alison Brittain in which he said there had not been a fair process when enforcing the deduction. Everton were deemed to have breached Profit and Sustainability Rules by an independent commission, which determined they had losses of £124.5m over three years – £19.5m over the permitted threshold. But Burnham, a former Secretary of State for Health, was critical of the Premier League for adopting a sanctions policy in August, after Everton had been charged and before their case was heard. “The fact that the Premier League sought to introduce a new sanctions policy in the middle of this process amounts, in my view, to an abuse of process,” he wrote.

England manager Sarina Wiegman says the Lionesses “know what we have to do” as they face the Netherlands in a must-win Nations League clash at Wembley. The Lionesses are third in Group A1 after four games, having been beaten 2-1 in September by the Dutch and 3-2 last month by Belgium, who they trail by three and one point respectively. Failure to beat the Netherlands in their penultimate group fixture will end their hopes of the first-placed finish they require to have a chance of securing a Paris 2024 Olympics qualifying spot for Great Britain. "We’re very clear on how we want to play and what we want to do,” Wiegman said. “I see good things on and off pitch, and that gives me confidence that we’re really ready for tomorrow, and of course we all know what we have to do." But England’s fate is not in their hands, however, and things could get complicated as they look to top their Nations League group. Here’s everything you need to know and here are the England vs Netherlands latest odds. How can England finish top of Group A1? The Lionesses must win against the Netherlands. Any other result and they are out of the running to top the group. If England win, they will likely have to beat Scotland at Hampden next Tuesday: a draw at Hampden would only be enough if Belgium lose to Scotland and then draw against the Netherlands, and even then England would need to beat the Netherlands by two goals to take the head-to-head record. If England win both games, they will have 12 points and would need Belgium to drop points either against Scotland or against the Netherlands. If England win both games but Belgium win both games, they cannot top the group. If England win both games and the Netherlands beat Belgium, they will go through only if they win by two goals or better the Dutch’s 2-1 win from the return fixture. The Lionesses must do this to take the head-to-head record. If both England and the Netherlands both finish on 12 points and with identical head-to-head records (ie both games are 2-1 home wins), then it will come down to overall goal difference in Group A1. Coming into the final two rounds, England have a goal difference of 0 while the Netherlands have +5. What would the Lionesses then need to do to qualify for the Olympics? England must reach the Nations League final to be sure of their place at the Olympics next summer, as the nominated side for Team GB. Both Nations League finalists will qualify for the Paris Games - unless one of those teams is France, who qualify automatically. If France reach the Nations final, the automatic qualification spot will go to the winner of the third place playoff in the Nations League finals. France, Denmark and Spain are top of Groups A2, A3 and A4 ahead of the final two rounds of fixtures. How do the Lionesses avoid relegation, or a relegation play-off? Scotland will be relegated automatically if they fail to win both games. England will be forced to go through a relegation play-off if they finish 3rd in the group and fail to overtake either the Netherlands or Belgium. When is England vs Netherlands? The Nations League fixture kicks off at 7:45pm on Friday 1 December at Wembley Stadium. How can I watch it and what TV channel is it on? The fixture will be shown live on ITV 4, with coverage kicking off from 7pm. It will also be available to stream live on the ITV X website. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events then you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN roundup is here to help: get great deals on the best VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider. What is the team news? England are without captain Millie Bright after the Chelsea defender withdrew from the squad due to a knee injury. The centre-back was replaced by Manchester United’s Millie Turner and goalkeeper Mary Earps will captain the Lionesses in her absence. Beth Mead is back in the England squad for the first time in over a year after returning from an ACL injury. The Euros golden boot winner adds to Sarina Wiegman’s options in the forward line, with Lauren James, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly all in form. Vivianne Miedema is also set to return for the Netherlands after her own injury absence and could join Lieke Martens and Jill Roord in attack, but Andries Jonker is likely to stick with Juventus forward Lineth Beerensteyn. Predicted line-ups England: Earps; Bronze, Carter, Greenwood, Charles; Walsh, Stanway; Hemp, James, Kelly; Daly Netherlands: Van Domselaar; Dijkstra, Spitse, Janssen; Pelova, Groenen, Van de Donk, Brugts; Roord; Beerensteyn, Martens Read More Is England vs Netherlands on TV? Channel, time and how to watch Lionesses The Lionesses are back in ‘must-win’ mode: Here’s why it can suit them Sarina Wiegman dismisses concerns over inexperienced England defence Keira Walsh ‘feeling fresh’ before latest round of Women’s Nations League games Beth Mead: ‘The things I’ve dealt with have made me a stronger person’ England captain Millie Bright to miss must-win Nations League double-header

England must beat the Netherlands at Wembley to keep their hopes of topping their Women’s Nations League group and qualifying for next summer’s Olympics alive. The Lionesses suffered a shock defeat to Belgium last month, having also been beaten by the Dutch in September, and sit third in Group A1 after four games. It means Sarina Wiegman’s side face must-win games against the Netherlands tonight and Scotland at Hampden on Tuesday - but they also need results to go their way. England are three points behind the Netherlands and one point behind Belgium with two games remaining and the Lionesses must reach the Nations League final to secure Great Britain a place at next summer’s Games. Here’s everything you need to know and here are the England vs Netherlands latest odds. When is England vs Netherlands? The Nations League fixture kicks off at 7:45pm on Friday 1 December at Wembley Stadium. How can I watch it and what TV channel is it on? The fixture will be shown live on ITV 4, with coverage kicking off from 7pm. It will also be available to stream live on the ITV X website. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events then you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN roundup is here to help: get great deals on the best VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider. What is the team news? England are without captain Millie Bright after the Chelsea defender withdrew from the squad due to a knee injury. The centre-back was replaced by Manchester United’s Millie Turner and goalkeeper Mary Earps will captain the Lionesses in her absence. Beth Mead is back in the England squad for the first time in over a year after returning from an ACL injury. The Euros golden boot winner adds to Sarina Wiegman’s options in the forward line, with Lauren James, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly all in form. Vivianne Miedema is also set to return for the Netherlands after her own injury absence and could join Lieke Martens and Jill Roord in attack, but Andries Jonker is likely to stick with Juventus forward Lineth Beerensteyn. Predicted line-ups England: Earps; Bronze, Carter, Greenwood, Charles; Walsh, Stanway; Hemp, James, Kelly; Daly Netherlands: Van Domselaar; Dijkstra, Spitse, Janssen; Pelova, Groenen, Van de Donk, Brugts; Roord; Beerensteyn, Martens How can England finish top of Group A1? The Lionesses must win against the Netherlands. Any other result and they are out of the running to top the group. If England win, they will likely have to beat Scotland at Hampden next Tuesday: a draw at Hampden would only be enough if Belgium lose to Scotland and then draw against the Netherlands, and even then England would need to beat the Netherlands by two goals to take the head-to-head record. If England win both games, they will have 12 points and would need Belgium to drop points either against Scotland or against the Netherlands. If England win both games but Belgium win both games, they cannot top the group. If England win both games and the Netherlands beat Belgium, they will go through only if they win by two goals or better the Dutch’s 2-1 win from the return fixture. The Lionesses must do this to take the head-to-head record. If both England and the Netherlands both finish on 12 points and with identical head-to-head records (ie both games are 2-1 home wins), then it will come down to overall goal difference in Group A1. Coming into the final two rounds, England have a goal difference of 0 while the Netherlands have +5. What would the Lionesses then need to do to qualify for the Olympics? England must reach the Nations League final to be sure of their place at the Olympics next summer, as the nominated side for Team GB. Both Nations League finalists will qualify for the Paris Games - unless one of those teams is France, who qualify automatically. If France reach the Nations final, the automatic qualification spot will go to the winner of the third place playoff in the Nations League finals. France, Denmark and Spain are top of Groups A2, A3 and A4 ahead of the final two rounds of fixtures. How do the Lionesses avoid relegation, or a relegation play-off? Scotland will be relegated automatically if they fail to win both games. England will be forced to go through a relegation play-off if they finish 3rd in the group and fail to overtake either the Netherlands or Belgium. Read More What do the Lionesses need to do for Team GB to qualify for the Olympics? The Lionesses are back in ‘must-win’ mode: Here’s why it can suit them Sarina Wiegman dismisses concerns over inexperienced England defence Keira Walsh ‘feeling fresh’ before latest round of Women’s Nations League games Beth Mead: ‘The things I’ve dealt with have made me a stronger person’ England captain Millie Bright to miss must-win Nations League double-header