Can the Welsh dragons roar into life against Switzerland in their Euro 2020 opener in Baku and breathe fire down the necks of the dark horses?

Euro 2016 semi-finalists Wales take on Switzerland in their opening Group A fixture of Euro 2020 at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan on Saturday afternoon.

Wales

Form

The Dragons were winless in both of their pre-Euro 2020 warm-up games.

Wales’ first friendly ended in defeat to tournament favourites France last Wednesday in Nice. Youngster Neco Williams was dismissed half way through the first half before Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele found the net, securing the victory for France.

Sunday’s goalless tie against Albania was a feisty affair as seven cards were handed out between the two sides. Referee Neil Doyle booked David Brooks, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Chris Mepham in Cardiff in front of 6,500 Welsh supporters.

Wales go into this summer’s European Championships winning just two from their last five games, with both wins coming in the March International break. A 3-1 defeat to Belgium in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier was sandwiched between a 1-0 victory over Mexico in a friendly and a 1-0 win over Czech Republic in their second World Cup qualifier, with Kieffer Moore and Dan James scoring in respective games.

Key Player

A world-class player, Gareth Bale is the standout name for Wales.

Despite making a cameo appearance from the bench in Cardiff on Sunday, Bale will be hoping to bring his pace, power and outstanding ability to his second European Championships – which on occasions throughout last season was crucial during his loan return at Tottenham Hotspur.

Injury News

No Wales players will be absent in Baku, so manager Rob Page has a full squad to choose from ahead of his side’s opener on Saturday.

Joe Allen will be a player who’ll be counting his blessings as he was set to miss last summer’s tournament with a ruptured achilleas injury before the tournament was delayed due to the pandemic. The 31-year-old has spent the last year recovering from the injury, and despite an injury picked up on International duty in March, he is fit enough for selection ahead of the Euros and will hope to play as big of a part as he did in France back in 2016.

Switzerland

Form

Switzerland are going into their opening Euro 2020 fixture being unbeaten in their last seven matches.

The Swiss’ first pre-Euro 2020 friendly ended in a 2-1 victory at home to the USA. Despite going a goal down with just five minutes on the clock, thanks to a goal from Sebastian Lletget, the ‘Rossocrociati’ swiftly levelled the tie with a goal through Torino’s Ricardo Rodriguez. Winger Steven Zuber put the Swiss in front just after the hour mark as they eventually rode home eventual winners.

Their final warm up game ended in a 7-0 thrashing of neighbours Liechtenstein. A hattrick from Mario Gavranovic, a brace from Christian Fassnacht, an own goal from young midfielder Noah Frick and a late Edimilson Fernandes goal was enough to extend the Swiss’ unbeaten streak to seven games, and go into the European Championships with sky-high confidence.

Key Player

Switzerland’s key asset is Liverpool’s Xherdan Shaqiri, who will collect his 92nd senior Switzerland cap if selected on Saturday.

The versatile 29-year-old scored an outrageous acrobatic strike from the edge of the Poland box in the Round-of-16 stage in Euro 2016 saw the then-Stoke City man sweep the goal of the tournament award.

More recently, Shaqiri played a key role in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he scored a late winner against Serbia.

A player who excels from set-plays and showing no fear to attempt the spectacular, has seen the Swiss man score some astonishing goals for club and country.

Shaqiri has won the UEFA Champions League on two occasions, and his European winning pedigree will be crucial if he is to help his Swiss side advance into the knockout stages.

Injury News

Switzerland, like their opponents, have no unavailable players so Bosnian boss Vladimir Petkovic will have his full selection pool of his 26-man-squad.

Head to Head

The Welsh have faced Switzerland on seven occasions, only twice since the turn of the millennium. The all-time record favours the Swiss with five wins to Wales’ two.

The most recent meeting ended in a 2-0 win for Wales in October 2011 as Aaron Ramsey and Bale found the net.

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