Gary Rose
BBC Sport at Allianz Arena

Didier Deschamps says people who are bored with his France team's style of play can watch something else instead of Tuesday's Euro 2024 semi-final with Spain.

Les Bleus have been criticised by some for a lack of entertainment in their matches, with BBC pundit and former Premier League striker Chris Sutton last week saying he would "close the curtains" if they were playing in his back garden.

It comes after France have reached the last four of the tournament in Germany with none of their players scoring a goal from open play.

Their three goals at the Euros have been two own goals and a penalty scored by Kylian Mbappe in the 1-1 draw with Poland in the group stage.

In Monday's pre-match news conference, Deschamps was asked about playing "boring football" by one journalist, to which he responded: "If you are bored, watch another game - you don't have to watch us, it's fine.

"Maybe it's not the same as it was in the past, but we do have the capability to spark emotions and make lots of French men and women happy with our results, especially after a difficult period in our country."

Read more here.

To confirm that team news - Spain are without suspended duo Dani Carvajal and Robin le Normand, while midfielder Pedri has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a knee injury.

One of Dani Olmo or Merino, who scored as Spain knocked out Germany in the quarter-finals, will likely replace Pedri.

France, meanwhile, welcome back Adrien Rabiot from suspension. Otherwise Les Bleus have no new suspensions or injury concerns.

Read the full match preview here.

Chris Sutton
Former Celtic striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think what makes tonight's game very interesting is the fact that however good Spain have been, and they have been the best team in the tournament in the Euros, they are now missing three key players - Barcelona midfielder Pedri, Real Sociedad defender Robin Le Normand and Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal, who is arguably the best right-back in world football but is suspended.

Image source, Getty Images

Gary Rose
BBC Sport in Munich

Manchester City midfielder Rodri has been a huge player for Spain at these Euros, particularly with a number of young players in the squad.

His experience will be key against France tonight, even more so with Spain having to adapt because of a couple of suspensions and injuries ruling important players out of the game.

Rodri was up in the pre-match news conference yesterday, and he said: "This speaks about the importance of our entire squad.

“We have important absences but that means the guys who come in are going to do even more, are going to run more. It is what it is.

“I’m pretty sure the team won’t notice any difference and we’re very confident."

The answers to all of these questions, and many more, will come on Wednesday, when England and the Netherlands lock horns in Dortmund, but for the remainder of this afternoon we are now going to concentrate on tonight's live match - Spain v France.

If Cody Gakpo doesn't get you, then impact sub Wout Weghorst will, it seems.

The 31-year-old former Burnley striker averages a goal every 114 minutes for the Netherlands.

He secured the win for Netherlands with a late goal as they beat Poland 2-1 in the opening Group D match at the Volksparkstadion.

But has the striker done enough to earn a start against England?

The Netherlands have scored nine goals in their five games at Euro 2024, with three of those coming from Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo.

He is the tournament's joint-leading scorer along with Germany's Jamal Musiala, Ivan Schranz of Slovakia and Georgia's Georges Mikautadze.

Having scored three goals at the 2022 World Cup as well, Gakpo is just the third Dutch player to score three or more times at two different major tournaments, along with Johnny Rep (1974 and 1978 World Cups) and Dennis Bergkamp (Euro 1992, plus the 1994 and 1998 World Cups).

"Cody Gakpo looks sharp," former England defender Gary Neville told ITV.

"I went to see Ruud van Nistelrooy 12 months ago and he said Gakpo was a left-sided player and it is proven in this tournament."

• This is the fourth meeting between England and the Netherlands at a major tournament; the Oranje won 3-1 at Euro 1988 (thanks to a Marco van Basten hat-trick), followed by a goalless draw at the 1990 World Cup, and a 4-1 win for England at Euro 96.
• England have won just one of their last nine meetings with Netherlands in all competitions (D4 L4), winning a friendly match 1-0 in Amsterdam in March 2018.
• Of all nations England have faced 20+ times in their history, only against Brazil (15%) do they have a lower win rate than they do against Netherlands (27% - W6 D9 L7).

Image source, Getty Images

• In Memphis Depay (17 shots, 10 chances created) and Cody Gakpo (13 shots, 11 chances created), the Netherlands are the only side with more than one player to have both 10+ shots and 10+ chances created. One or both of Depay and/or Gakpo have been directly involved in 47 of Netherlands’ 74 shots at this Euros.
• England have gone to extra-time in both of their Euro 2024 knockout ties so far. Only Portugal at Euro 2016, Spain at Euro 2020, and Italy at Euro 2020 have ever gone to extra-time three times in a single edition of the finals.
• The Netherlands have won two different matches having conceded the first goal at Euro 2024, beating Poland 2-1 in the group stages and Turkey by the same score in the quarter-final.

England

England were without centre-back Marc Guehi against Switzerland through suspension.

Guehi has done a fine job and arguably been one of Southgate's best players so far in Germany, but replacement Ezri Konsa, albeit playing in a back three in the quarter-final, produced a superb display.

"Konsa’s performance was incredible," said BBC pundit and former England midfielder Danny Murphy.

"He just took his chance. Every part of his game was impressive. There was no panic. He was replacing someone who had been playing so well so the pressure was even more on him.

"He has given Gareth Southgate a huge headache now - Guehi will probably come back in but nobody would be surprised if Konsa stayed in."

The other consideration for Southgate is how to use Luke Shaw, who came on as a second-half substitute against Switzerland and has since declared himself "fit and ready" to play 90 minutes.

The Manchester United defender featured on the left of a back three, but can also play at wing-back or as a more orthodox left-back in a four.

With Trippier and Saka filling in at wing-back against the Swiss, some fans may also be hoping Trent Alexander-Arnold will return to the side.

Southgate has indicated the Liverpool man's impact at the tournament will likely come from the bench.

“Trent has stuck with the task," said Southgate. "He could have thought his tournament was done, but I kept talking to him about how he can have moments and still have a big part to play.”

Click here to read more.

Image source, Getty Images

England

England manager Gareth Southgate must decide whether to stick with a back three after switching to the formation for Saturday's win over Switzerland in the quarter-finals.

With Kieran Trippier and Bukayo Saka utilised as wing-backs the switch meant the wide areas were better covered, allowing Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden to stay more central.

Manchester City's Foden had been playing on the left throughout this tournament rather than the central role that saw him named Premier League player of the season for 2023-24.

"Going to three at the back and a box in midfield and three up front, I wondered whether our wing-backs would just become a five and if we’d just become unstuck against a team that know how to play that formation," said BBC pundit and former Manchester City defender Micah Richards.

"But it was the complete opposite - they were brave, they got up the pitch."

However, Southgate may choose to revert to a back four against the Netherlands - who play 4-2-3-1 - and look to minimise the threat of attacking players Cody Gakpo, Memphis Depay and Xavi Simons.

England are still, however, lacking creativity, with Saka's 80th-minute strike to force extra time their first on target of the match, as was the case with Bellingham's equaliser 86 seconds from the end of normal time against Slovakia.

"There are still things to improve, but players were looking to get on the ball and create things. We’re not the finished article yet but there are better signs," added Richards.

Read the preview here

Image source, Reuters

Right, it's getting closer and closer to kick-off, with crowds building in Munich now before tonight's opening semi-final of Euro 2024 between Spain and France.

We will focus on that game shortly, after the latest team from the England and Netherlands camps before their last-four encounter in Dortmund on Wednesday.

Nick Mashiter, Shamoon Hafez & Simon Stone

Image source, Getty Images

Ipswich have had an offer of about £18m accepted for Hull winger Jaden Philogene and are also close to bringing in Manchester City striker Liam Delap.

The Suffolk club have agreed to pay £20m for England Under-21 international Delap as they prepare for a return to the Premier League.

Everton expressed an interest in signing Philogene last month and agreed a fee with Hull on Tuesday, but Portman Road has been the 22-year-old's preferred destination.

Aston Villa retained a buy-back option under certain conditions, after selling Philogene to Hull last September.

It is understood Villa inserted a clause into the deal with Hull meaning they would have three days to match any bid once a deal had been agreed.

Crystal Palace were also interested in Philogene but decided against making a move as a deal was deemed too expensive.

Read more on this story here.

Raj

Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter at the England camp

England defender Marc Guehi was pictured with strapping today in the training session at their base.

I’ve been told that it’s not a concern and it’s just a shoulder strapping, the same as two or three others in the squad too.

Image source, Getty Images

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

The push and pull between Everton and Manchester United over Jarrad Branthwaite shows no sign of abating.

United lodged a £35m bid last month, believing Everton needed to sell players before 30 June to comply with profit and sustainability regulations.

They did. But sold Ben Godfrey instead.

Now United have gone back with an improved offer. Everton are still saying no. They are looking at Harry Maguire's valuation as a benchmark.

This is starting to look like it will become one of those irritating transfer sagas that eventually get sorted on deadline day.

Read more on this story here.

Right, we are going to continue our build-up to the Euro 2024 semi-finals shortly, after a few news lines from the Premier League...

RH, London

How does Kane's form at Euro 2024 compare to that at Bayern in the Bundesliga last season?

His shot conversation rate is higher at Bayern, at 24.18 as well has his goals and assists per game (1.28).

There are areas where Kane has been better at Euro 2024.

Kane's pass accuracy for England at Euro 2024 is 73.91 compared to 72.53 at Bayern.

He's won more fouls for England (1.94) and lost possession fewer times (7.95).

Image source, Getty Images

Most of Kane's open-play touches have come in the box - 12% - which is the same as his record at Bayern this season.

The only main difference to his open-play touches between his Euro 2024 and Bayern league form is that, at Euro 2024, his second-most touches have been just inside the left-hand side of the opposition's half (10%), whereas, at Bayern, his second-most touches are just in front of the opposition's box - so arguably playing a little further back for England.

He's played the ball down the right more than any other passage of play - the player he's had most interaction with is Bukayo Saka - passing to him nine times at Euro 2024, then Walker (6) and Foden (6).

Image source, Opta

Image source, Opta

In comparison to 14 other players (see below), here are some of Harry Kane's stats:

• Only Ronaldo (486 minutes) has played more minutes than Kane (464 minutes)
• Kane has won more fouls than any other forward (10)
• Kane's passing accuracy of 74% puts him 12th amongst these 15 players
• He's had 23 touches in the box, ranked seventh.
• His shot conversion rate is 13.33%. Five forwards here have worse conversion rates, including Ronaldo and Lukaku who didn't score.

The 14 other players on the list are forwards who've scored at Euro 2024 as well as Ronaldo and Lukaku: Georges Mikautadze (Georgia), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Donyell Malen (Netherlands), Kai Havertz (Germany), Dani Olmo (Spain), Niclas Füllkrug (Germany), Kylian Mbappe (France), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)

Image source, Getty Images