Jordan Henderson thinks England's hopes of beating Germany in the Euro 2020 last 16 could rest on keeping the ball away from Toni Kroos as much as possible.
Gareth Southgate's side came top of their group, taking seven points from games against Croatia, Scotland and the Czech Republic without conceding a goal, ensuring they will begin the knockout rounds at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday.
There, they will face Germany for the third time at a European Championship and the first in a knockout match since the Three Lions lost on penalties in the semi-finals of Euro 96.
Joachim Low's side scraped through a challenging Group F, Leon Goretzka's late equaliser against Hungary on matchday three ensuring they finished behind France and above Portugal thanks to their superior head-to-head record.
While England's route through the groups was somewhat sedate, with two 1-0 wins and a goalless draw with Scotland, Germany won a six-goal thriller with Portugal before battling to a 2-2 draw with Hungary after falling 1-0 to France.
Amid their inconsistencies, midfielder Kroos has been exemplary for the 2014 world champions. No player has completed more passes at these finals than the Real Madrid man (280), with 217 of those occurring in the opposition half – by far the best return at the tournament.
Given Germany have averaged 64.7 per cent of the possession in their games, a figure lower only than Spain (76.1), Henderson is eager to disrupt Kroos' rhythm as much as possible by retaining the ball and getting it into England's forwards.
"They're a top team. You go through every position on the pitch and they've got world-class players everywhere, so it's always going to be a tough game," he said on Thursday.
"With the ball, it's extremely important to keep it, especially against Germany, who are a fantastic team who've got very good technical players who can dominate games with the ball. We need to be defensively solid, like we have been, because they've got players like Kroos that can hurt you.
"He's a world-class player who can really hurt you with time and space, so we need to make sure that, without the ball, we're really solid.
"When we get it, we need to be calm and composed, but also positive with the play, getting the ball forward and trying to create as many chances as we can because we've got some fantastic forward players who can hurt any opposition. If we can get the ball into them and let them do their thing, I think we can be in for a real good night."
Penalties dominate much of the pre-match talk, not least because Germany beat England on home soil on spot-kicks 25 years ago, with current boss Gareth Southgate missing the crucial attempt.
Henderson was in the headlines during the warm-up for this tournament, the Liverpool man taking the ball from Dominic Calvert-Lewin before seeing his penalty saved during the 1-0 friendly win over Romania in Middlesbrough.
"It was blown out of proportion, to be honest, after the game," Henderson said. "Nothing to be said internally. I was obviously disappointed to miss but I was more disappointed for Dom as well because he could have had another goal for England."
Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham: Huijsen downs sorry Spurs
Bournemouth moved into the top half of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Tottenham at the Vitality Stadium.
Dean Huijsen scored the decisive goal in the 17th minute when the Spurs defence allowed the 19-year-old defender to head in unmarked from a Marcus Tavernier corner.
The hosts had the chance to put the game to bed in the second half as Ryan Christie was denied by the woodwork and an Evanilson goal was disallowed for offside following a VAR review.
Tottenham were unable to make meaningful inroads throughout the first half and despite their performance picking up after the break, the visitors failed to find a way back and fell to their sixth league defeat of the season.
Bournemouth leapfrogged their opponents into ninth place on 21 points, while Tottenham dropped to 10th, one point behind the Cherries.
Data Debrief: Home comforts for Bournemouth
Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth have now won four of their last five games at their home ground. What makes their home form even more impressive is the fact that they have beaten Arsenal 2-0 and champions Manchester City 2-1 during that run.
On Thursday, the Cherries attempted 21 shots, which was their highest total in a league match this season.
They only scored one, but it proved decisive. Huijsen became Bournemouth’s youngest-ever goalscorer in the Premier League at 19 years and 235 days and the third-youngest Spaniard, after Cesc Fabregas and Stefan Bajcetic.
Meanwhile, Spurs have now lost seven of their last 11 away games in the league (W3 D1), as Ange Postecoglou's team, who had a goal disallowed for offside in the second half, failed to show anywhere close to their best form.
Lazio 3-1 Napoli: Noslin hat-trick fires Biancocelesti into Coppa Italia quarter-finals
Tijjani Noslin's hat-trick booked Lazio's place in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals following a 3-1 victory over Napoli.
The Dutch forward's first treble of his career proved decisive at Stadio Olimpico, where Giovanni Simeone's strike proved nothing more than a consolation for the visitors.
Lazio were awarded a penalty in the 20th minute after Elia Caprile brought down Pedro, but the Napoli goalkeeper redeemed himself with a smart save to deny Mattia Zaccagni from 12 yards.
Nevertheless, the hosts broke through in the 32nd minute. Samuel Gigot headed Loum Tchaouna's deep centre back across goal for Noslin to nod home.
Simeone brought Napoli level four minutes later, tucking away a rebound after Christos Mandas could only parry David Neres' initial effort.
However, Noslin put Lazio back in front within five minutes after Pedro cushioned a cross neatly into his path, before completing his hat-trick early in the second half when heading home Zaccagni's centre.
Data Debrief: Another last-16 exit for Partenopei
Lazio are through to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals for a 14th consecutive season, after Noslin stole the show in Rome.
The Dutchman had never previously in his career scored two goals in the same match, let alone three.
Meanwhile, Napoli have now won just one of their last six away games in the Coppa Italia, and have exited the tournament at this stage in each of the last four seasons.
Silva hails 'amazing' Iwobi as Fulham down Brighton
Marco Silva hailed the "amazing" job Alex Iwobi did, as his brace fired Fulham to a 3-1 win over Brighton at Craven Cottage on Thursday.
The Nigeria international, playing in a more central midfield role, pounced on Bart Verbruggen's error after only four minutes to put the hosts ahead.
And he rounded out the win with a fine curling effort three minutes from time, after Matt O'Riley's luckless own goal had restored Fulham's lead following Carlos Baleba's brilliant equaliser.
Speaking to Amazon Prime, Cottagers boss Silva said of Iwobi: "This evening, we played with Alex Iwobi in a different position. He's an offensive player and did an amazing job this evening.
"It was a big three points for us in a tough game. We started in the best way possible with the early goal, but Brighton made it really difficult for us in the first half. They started with three at the back, and it made it difficult for us to connect with the wide players.
"We had chances as well. Second half, we were much better. We conceded in a moment we should prepare better for the long ball. It was a good shot from the edge of the box. [A] difficult game, but a big three points for us."
Iwobi hinted his early opener was a product of Fulham's set-up, while he revelled in giving the home fans a "gift" with his expertly taken second late on.
"We know Brighton like to play and so do we. I was able to capitalise on the high press," he said.
"We know that Brighton like to play out from the back, so we came up with a structure, and it obviously worked for the first goal. We take it, however it goes in, a goal is a goal. We wanted a goal from a set-piece because we were a real threat last season.
"It's [his second goal] a gift for Fulham and the fans. It was a good pass from Antonee Robinson, and it was a good finish."
Lewis Dunk cut a frustrated figure after the game and felt he should have been awarded a free-kick for a foul from Issa Diop leading up to Fulham's second goal.
The Brighton captain was particularly annoyed VAR failed to spot an infringement.
"It was a foul," he said. "It was the same as the one on the halfway line and in the box. I jumped for the header, and he put his hands in my back.
"How the ref or VAR can't see it, it is what it is. It was clear. It's annoying. If you watch the replay, it's a clear foul, a push in my back.
"I don't think the scoreline reflects the game. We picked ourselves up, and I thought we were the better side, but that's football.
"It baffles me sometimes how we have some people watching on a screen, and they can't get the decision right."
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