Northern Ireland v England: Women’s Euro 2022, Group A – live!

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Northern Ireland v England (yes it is that way round; don’t ask me why) at St Mary’s. First things first: don’t call it a dead rubber. It’s nothing of the sort to Northern Ireland, who would love to get their first point(s) at a major tournament, especially against England. And though she will be absent from the game because of Covid, Sarina Wiegman has already made it abundantly clear that this is not just a bit of admin for England to complete before next Wednesday’s quarter-final.

While most of us have been prattling about rest, rotation and Russo, Wiegman has another R word in mind. “I believe in rhythm,” she said. “When you have nine days in between the Norwegian game and the quarter-finals that’s too long. You need more rhythm and keep the focus and keep playing. So you couldn’t expect lots of rotations – during the game, probably, but not before.”

England hit unimaginable highs in beating Norway 8-0 on Monday, and Wiegman wants them to maintain that flow before they meet Spain or Denmark in the quarter-final.

There’s no point pretending this is the biggest game of the Euros, because that would be a sizeable whopper, but it still has plenty of meaning. It’s also a chance for England fans to put their feet up and relax. Because after tonight, and with apologies for the imagery, things are going to get bum-squeakingly tense.

Kick off 8pm.