Lineker, Shearer and Richards give predictions for the round of 16 of Euro 2024 and warn England before the clash with Slovakia

GARY LINEKER and Alan Shearer gave their predictions for the Euro 2024 last 16, while Micah Richards made an impassioned plea for England.

Gareth Southgate’s side head to Gelsenkirchen on Sunday for their round of 16 clash with Slovakia.

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The Three Lions were tied with Slovenia on Tuesday, but still managed to clinch top spot in Group C.

This came after they initially struggled to beat Serbia 1-0 before a 1-1 draw with Denmark last week.

BBC football commentator and England legend Lineker caused a storm by calling the team’s performance against the Danes “shit” on his podcast.

Shearer also attacked the side after their lackluster performance and insisted there “can be no excuses” for a Euro 2024 showing with “no energy, no rhythm”.

But captain Harry Kane responded by reminding them both that the English teams they played for “didn’t win anything”, as he warned about the impact on the morale of younger players when asked about the “shit” comment.

Despite all this furore, England produced another dismal performance, failing to defeat Slovenia, although many believe there were signs of better things to come.

And Southgate’s men now have a potential route to the final that avoids big guns like Spain, Germany, Portugal and France – prompting Richards to urge them to start showing some “swagger” as the three downed the Three Lions to advance.

Richards told Rest is football podcast: “I think England will kick into gear now. I just think in the last game against Slovenia there were signs that they were moving up the pitch.

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“Now they just need to solve the last part creatively. I think we’ll be fine. Two to zero in England.

Lineker then said: “I think, well, I’ll go with England anyway. I think it’s remarkable how the draw fell to England.

“I mean, it’s not the first time this has happened to Gareth, obviously, which is great because it’s really important to have a bit of luck at some point in the tournament.

“And that could be it. You have most of the monsters on the other side of the draw. And even that little upset where Georgia beat Portugal, which meant England faced Slovakia instead of the Netherlands.

“I mean, Holland game, you’re thinking, I mean, they’re not flying either, but you’re going, they’ve got some players. I don’t want to be disrespectful to Slovakia, but there must be very, very strong favorites.”

It was then that Richards intervened and said: “You take the group we were in, you take Slovakia, you are on the right side of the group. Now you have to have hope.

“I mean, you know, should we be on these teams with the players we have? So on the right side, it’s time for us, you know what it is?

“It’s time for us to take responsibility as players, coaches and say: we are better than you.

“We will play on the front foot. That’s what we need to do and have that confidence and that swagger that we see week in and week out.”

But Lineker warned: “That has to come from the leader, but he has seen England through most games in the knockout stages against weaker opposition. I think we’ll all go to England.”

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Before releasing the other predictions, the conversation turned to the rest of the draw, before the topic quickly returned to England.

LIneker said: “It’s remarkable how this happens for Gareth Southgate’s English teams in major championships.

“But the road to the final for England, if obviously they find a bit of form, we’ve already talked about Slovakia, it’s the winners of Switzerland or Italy.

“Normally you go to Italy, one of the great nations, but they are not as strong as the Italy we have seen so many times over the years. I would say that three years ago they were much better.

“They lost to two central defenders, etc. And a possible semi-final, where it will be Romania, Holland, Austria or Türkiye.”

The confident Richards then says: “Oh my God! What more do we want in life?”

Lineker interrupted and said: “You can’t take any of these things for granted and this is in no way disrespectful to these nations, but I know we are just starting to break even soon.”

Richards then concludes: “Come on. It’s not about being disrespectful. You said it, best player in England, best player in Germany, best player in Spain.

“Come on. Don’t say more. Let’s go to the final.”

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The round of 16 begins today when Switzerland face Italy, with Shearer and Lineker going for the Swiss, while Richards is betting on the Azzurri.

Germany vs Denmark is tonight’s main event, and all three have agreed that it will be the host country that marches on to the quarter-finals.

The three agreed again when they supported Spain in their victory over Georgia in the other game on Sunday, while the same was true of the feeling that France would beat Belgium on Monday.

As for Portugal against Slovenia, it was another clean victory, as they supported Cristiano Ronaldo and company to advance.

Lineker and Richards believe the Netherlands will overtake Romania – but not Shearer.

He said: “There will be a story somewhere along the way. This could be that story. Then I’m going to Romania.”

Austria v Turkey on Tuesday is another interesting tie that split the trio, with Shearer backing the Austrians while Lineker and Richards went in the opposite direction.