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• Columbus Crew v Sporting Kansas City: Vermes looking to improve 'soft' defending

  Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes wants to see a better defensive display when they travel to Columbus Crew in the MLS on Saturday.

  Sporting KC sit second from bottom in the Western Conference, having won just three of their 19 games so far.

  After back-to-back losses to LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake in which they conceded four goals in both, Vermes admitted they needed to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

  "I can't deny the fight of the guys, but defensively, it's too soft," he said. "Unfortunately, it's similar to what happens in a lot of games.

  "We can be fighting back in a game and give away a nothing goal. There's a ton of chances that could put us way ahead, but we can't be giving up the goals that we give up. That's it; that's the game."

  Columbus, meanwhile, are right in the mix in the Eastern Conference, sitting sixth with 27 points.

  A 2-1 defeat to Inter Miami snapped their four-match winning streak in the MLS, but head coach Wilfried Nancy is confident they can quickly put that result behind them.

  "It has been good games, good performances," head coach Wilfried Nancy said. "[The last game] was also a good performance, but we were not good at certain moments. This is again something that we did well. We have grown a lot regarding these kinds of games."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez

  Cucho attempted 10 shots in the Crew's defeat to Inter Miami on Wednesday, his third game with at least 10 shots since making his MLS debut in July 2022.

  All other players in MLS have three total games with 10+ shots in that time (Raul Ruidiaz, Hany Mukhtar, Julian Carranza, one each).

  Sporting Kansas City – William Agada

  Agada scored two of Kansas City's three goals on Wednesday, his fifth multi-goal match for Sporting. Only five players have recorded more multi-goal games in the team's history.

  MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

  This will be the Crew's first regular-season home match since losing to FC Cincinnati on May 11. Columbus are winless in four straight MLS home matches after winning 12 of their previous 14 home league games.

  Kansas City have lost nine of their last 10 regular-season matches (W1), including losing six in a row on the road in league play. This is the first time in the post-shootout era (since 2000) that Sporting have lost nine times in a span of 10 such matches.

  However, Kansas City have lost just one of their last 12 matches against Columbus (W7 D4) dating back to October 2012, though three of the last four meetings have ended in draws. This will be the first meeting between the sides in Columbus in one day short of five years (June 23, 2019).

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Columbus Crew – 64.2%

  Draw – 19.1%

  Sporting Kansas City – 16.7%

• Switzerland v Germany: Nagelsmann sets sight on top spot in Group A

  Julian Nagelsmann wants his Germany team to stay perfect as they aim to top Group A at Euro 2024.

  The hosts secured qualification for the last 16 by dispatching Hungary 2-0 last time out, following on from their 5-1 demolition of Scotland.

  Their final group match sees them take on Switzerland, who are two points behind in second place, meaning a defeat for Germany on Sunday would see the Swiss top the group.

  That is a scenario that Nagelsmann is desperate to avoid, as he confirmed there will be few changes to his line-up, despite Germany's progress having been assured.

  "Top spot is important. We want to win all our matches," Nagelsmann said.

  "I do think it is important to have as many players from the starting 11 on the pitch so that we stay in the rhythm.

  "Do not expect to have seven changes to the team. I can rule that out now."

  Germany's match with the Swiss will take place in Frankfurt, where England and Denmark played on Thursday, with both sides struggling with how the pitch chopped up.

  Deniz Undav, however, says teams simply have to adapt to the surfaces.

  "There a still a few days left, so maybe the pitch will improve until then," said the forward.

  "But you have to be able to adapt to the conditions. We want to win on Sunday. So, whether we play on grass or stones, we have to win."

  Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri, meanwhile, knows his team must expect the sternest of challenges.

  "We know we are now up against a team that is of a different calibre with their super attack and the euphoria [as hosts]," he said.

  "But we are going into the game with confidence and look forward to it. Obviously, we want to trouble the Germans."

  Opta's supercomputer makes Germany favourites to win the group, with a 77% likelihood the hosts finish top.

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Switzerland - Xherdan Shaqiri

  Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in more major international tournaments than Switzerland forward Shaqiri, who has now netted at each of the last six such tournaments since and including the 2014 World Cup.

  In fact, Shaqiri is the only European player to have scored at the last six major tournaments.

  Germany - Jamal Musiala

  Musiala is aiming to become the first Germany player to score in each of his nation's opening three games at a major tournament since Miroslav Klose at the 2002 World Cup, and the first ever to do so at the European Championship.

  Aged 21 years and 118 days when this game is played, he would be the second-youngest player ever to do so for any nation, behind only Peru's Teofilo Cubillas (21y 94d) at the 1970 World Cup.  

  MATCH PREDICTION: GERMANY WIN

  This will be Switzerland and Germany's first encounter at a major tournament since the 1966 World Cup; West Germany beat Switzerland 5-0 in the group stages. They also met in the 1938 and 1962 World Cups.

  Germany have won each of their last three games at major international tournaments by 2+ goals (4-2 v Costa Rica, 5-1 v Scotland, 2-0 v Hungary) with the Netherlands at the 1974 World Cup the last nation to record four such victories in a row.

  They are aiming to become the third host nation to win all three of their group stage games at a single edition of the European Championship after the Netherlands in 2000 and France in 1984.

  Meanwhile, they would be the first host team to do so at a major international tournament since the Germans themselves at the 2006 World Cup (Excluding Euro 2020 - 11 host nations).

  However, Switzerland are unbeaten in their last three matches against Germany (W1 D2), with those three matches producing 16 goals, an average of 5.3 per game. The Swiss had lost 16 of their previous 18 matches against the Germans (D2), so they should certainly not be discounted.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Switzerland - 23.5%

  Germany - 52.3%

  Draw - 24.2%

• Page sacked as Wales manager

  Wales have sacked manager Rob Page following the country's failure to qualify for Euro 2024.

  The 49-year-old was initially given the job on an interim basis in November 2020, taking over from Ryan Giggs, before being appointed permanently in September 2022.

  Page took charge of 45 games for the national team, winning 15 of those matches.

  He oversaw the team at two major tournaments, reaching the round of 16 at Euro 2020, and led Wales to the World Cup for the first time in 64 years, though they exited in the group stage after earning only one point.

  Wales were agonisingly short of qualifying for a third consecutive European Championships, losing on penalties to Poland in their play-off final in March.

  Despite being backed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW) following that result, Page then came under heavy criticism following a goalless draw with minnows Gibraltar and a 4-0 thrashing by Slovakia in their June friendlies, leading to his contract being terminated.