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Three Players to Look Out For in Today's Euro 2016 fixtures




It's crunch time in Group C and Group D on Tuesday. Spain are already through to the last-16 and Ukraine became the first team to have been eliminated from the tournament, but there's plenty at stake for the remaining sides on an action-packed day at Euro 2016.
Northern Ireland face the daunting prospect of needing a win against world champions Germany to seal qualification for the knockout stages, while Poland need a point against neighbours Ukraine to secure a top-two spot.
And in Group D Spain are likely to rotate their squad against Croatia, who need a draw to guarantee second. Czech Republic need to win against Turkey to stand a chance of avoiding elimination.
It promises to be an entertaining evening of football and we've picked out three players who could shine on the night…





It's not all about Robert Lewandowski for Poland. The Bayern Munich man might be the star of this Poland side, but it's fellow forward Arek Milik who has scored the team's only goal of Euro 2016.
Eredivisie striker Milik has been banging the goals in at Ajax for the last 18 months and seems to benefit from playing alongside a player like Lewandowski at international level, with the big name threat attracting so much of opponents' defensive attention.
Milik, 22, is a proper centre-forward - strong on the ball, good in the air and happy both shooting from range and poaching in the box.
Some of his finishing was wasteful against Germany, but Ukraine's defence has looked shaky so far and Milik will fancy his chances of adding to his Euro goal tally to send Poland into the knockout stages with their tails up.
Make sure to keep an eye out for Milik; not just in this game but also in the transfer rumours over the rest of the summer. He's exactly the sort of striker who will interest a number of Premier League clubs.


Koke - Spain
Koke has had to settle for a place on the bench in Spain's opening games
Koke has had to settle for a place on the bench in Spain's opening games
As ever with Spain, the second string would fancy their chances of getting in most other squads at the tournament. And midfielder Koke is the perfect example.

The Atletico Madrid man has been on the bench for each of Spain's opening games, with Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Cesc Fabregas preferred in a three-man central midfield.

But Spain are already through and that gives Vincente del Bosque the luxury of ringing the changes for the game against Croatia in order to keep his first-choice midfield fresh.

Koke came on as a substitute for Fabregas in the win over Turkey and it would be little surprise to see the same change made from the start on Tuesday.

The possible absence of Croatia's metronomic midfielder Luka Modric due to injury provides an opportunity for one of Spain's many cultured passers to control the game, and Koke is ideally suited to take advantage against opponents who have plenty of quality but do have a tendency to leave space between the lines.


Mario Gomez - Germany
Mario Gomez gives Germany a different option in attack
Mario Gomez gives Germany a different option in attack
Germany struggled to unlock Poland's packed defence last time out, with even centre-back Jerome Boateng able to see that the problem was up top.

"We did not win any one-on-one duels in attack," a remarkably candid Boateng said. "There was not a lot of movement - it just wasn't enough."

Mario Gotze has started as a false nine in both of Germany's games so far, but his tendency to drop deep and link with the support attackers has made the team slightly predictable when faced with deep-lying defences.

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