England vs Turkey: Preview & Prediction

England play their first warm-up match before the European Championships begin on June 10 when they host Turkey at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

With the Europa League final being played on Wednesday, and the FA Cup Final at Wembley yesterday, Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson doesn’t have a full squad to choose from, with the likes of captain Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford, Chris Smalling and Daniel Sturridge all absent.

With three of the aforementioned players being strikers, it gives a chance to the remaining two in the 26-man preliminary squad – Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy, who scored 49 Premier League goals between this this season – to strike up a potential partnership up top, with the latter in especially confident mood after scoring in his last two appearances for his country.

With Rooney missing, Gary Cahill looks set to skipper the side in Manchester – the first England home match to be played away from Wembey since 2007 – while there is a chance for Jack Wilshere and Jordan Henderson, both of whom had injury concerns leading up to the squad announcement, to prove their fitness.

England will certainly be in confident mood against their fellow Euro 2016 qualifiers though, as they are unbeaten in all of their 10 previous meetings with Turkey, scoring 31 goals and conceding none, but they will be aware that their opponents are unbeaten in their last 13 matches, last losing to Brazil in November 2014.

Team News:

Missing both their Manchester United and Liverpool contingent, Roy Hodgson has a more limited squad to select from, but could choose to start both Kane and Vardy in attack, while Wilshere and Henderson could feature in midfield.

For the visitors, Arda Turan, Nuri Sahin and Burak Yilmaz are absent because of club duties, while Nordsjaelland winger Emre Mor could earn his first cap for his country.

Previous Meeting: Turkey 0-0 England (October 11, 2003)
Form: England – WWLWWL; Turkey – WDWWWW
Key Men: England – Harry Kane; Turkey – Mevlut Erdinc
Shoot Says: England 1-0 Turkey