Bosses urged to let workers clock off early for England v Germany at Euro 2020

The TUC suggested that managers should talk to their employees ahead of key games and allow them to watch the action on the company’s premises.

England are set to take on old rivals Germany at Wembley tomorrow (Tuesday), with kick-off at 5pm.

Staff working from home should be allowed to finish early to watch games while others should be offered the chance to start early or finish later, said the union organisation.

Flexible working has benefits for businesses and their workforces, said the TUC, adding that the increase in remote working since the pandemic means many staff will be working from home.

More than one in five UK employees work evenings and weekends, and many will want to watch the matches too, such as England’s encounter with Germany on Tuesday, said the TUC.

General secretary Frances O’Grady – an England and Arsenal supporter – said: “Millions of workers around the UK will want to cheer on their national teams in Euro 2020, especially after the tournament was postponed last year.

“Bosses should talk to their staff and try and let people who want to watch the games do so, either at work or at home and then claim back their time afterwards.

“Whether it’s about major sporting events like Euro 2020, attending a medical appointment or picking up the kids from school, allowing people more flexibility in how and when they do their work makes them happier. It cuts absenteeism and raises productivity.”

A statistical look at England’s forthcoming clash with Germany

Here, the PA news agency looks at how the teams compare in the tournament statistics and casts an eye ahead to a potential penalty shootout.

Attack

England are the lowest scorers remaining in the tournament with just two goals – only Finland, Turkey and Scotland scored fewer. Indeed, the teams scoring three or fewer at Euro 2020 are the three home nations present and six teams who joined Scotland in failing to make it out of the group stage.

Twenty-two shots and five on target for Gareth Southgate’s men both rank as the third-fewest in the competition, though it is worth noting they have hit the woodwork in all three games – only Poland have gone that close more often.

Germany have racked up six goals, albeit with two coming from Portugal players. All five teams ahead of them in that category have already played four games – Denmark and Italy lead the way with nine apiece and between them dominate the attacking statistics.

Joachim Low’s side rank second behind Spain in possession, with England joint-third, and first outright in passing accuracy at 89.7 per cent with England’s 87 per cent ranking eighth.

Defence

England have excelled at the other end, with three clean sheets in their group – Austria’s extra-time goal against Italy left the Three Lions as the only team yet to concede in the tournament, with the Azzurri and Belgium also having three clean sheets but in four games.

It has not been a last-ditch effort either, with Jordan Pickford making only four saves and England forced into only 26 tackles – only Spain have made fewer, while England’s 11 tackles lost is the fewest of any team.

Germany have made 50 tackles, fourth-most in the tournament, and won 29, more than anyone except neighbours Austria. They have conceded five goals and are without a clean sheet, while Manuel Neuer has made only three saves – only Spain, with just one from Unai Simon, have made fewer as a team.

England have also collected just a single booking, for Phil Foden against Croatia, to Germany’s five.

Penalties

The spectre of penalties is impossible to ignore in this fixture after England’s semi-final exits at Italia 90 and Euro 96, and Neuer holds an imposing record against spot-kicks.

Teams have scored 39 per cent of penalties against the Germany keeper in regulation play throughout his career, 48 out of 70 with the other 22 either saved or missed – most recently when Neuer denied Augsburg’s Daniel Caligiuri in the return fixture. The list of players he has saved from in the past includes such stars as current Bayern Munich club-mate Robert Lewandowski, Fernando Torres, Antoine Griezmann, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

That record dips slightly in shootouts, conceding 41 times from 58 efforts, but opponents have still been successful with less than 70 per cent of penalties against him overall.

Pickford boasts a solid record of his own, with opponents scoring around three quarters of all penalties against him – 35 of 46 in regulation and 21 of 28 in shootouts. In England’s latest Nations League campaign, he saved from Iceland’s Birkir Bjarnason but was beaten from the spot by Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku and Denmark’s Christian Eriksen.

The Everton keeper has helped England win back-to-back shootouts for the first time ever, against Colombia at the 2018 World Cup and Switzerland the following year in the Nations League. Pickford even scored in the latter, as did Neuer against Chelsea in Bayern’s 2012 Champions League final defeat.