More mistakes and we'll be flying home

Beckham's failure to beat Fabien Barthez from the penalty spot.

Emile Heskey's reckless foul just outside England's penalty area in the final moments.

The failure of David James and/or the defensive wall to cover Zinedine Zidane's free kick.

England's inexplicable loss of possession directly from their kickoff with just seconds remaining.

Steven Gerrard's underhit back pass into the penalty area.

James' reckless challenge on Thierry Henry to give away a penalty.

To make two or three such individual errors in one match at this level of the game would be unusual and costly, but when you make six the consequences are going to be disastrous.

Those involved have evaded serious criticism largely because of the quality of England's overall performance against a talented French side, but there will be no hiding place if similar mistakes are made tonight.

There is an assumption here that England's level of performance against the French means that a win against the Swiss, disappointing in their goalless draw with Croatia, is almost guaranteed.

"A dangerous thought," cautioned Eriksson. "Sure, Switzerland are not the favourites, but they have nothing to lose. They are very well organised. I've been impressed by what I've seen on the tapes."

The unusual heat here will help neither team, though Beckham's message - "let's hit them hard and early" - may not reflect exactly what Eriksson is thinking.

In 90-degrees in the late afternoon England cannot afford to expend energy chasing the ball unnecessarily. "We need to keep possession," said the Swede. "I don't want to see too many long balls. The heat is going to make it difficult for both teams."

England have lost only one of their last 15 matches against the Swiss, though the last two meetings both ended in 1-1 draws - at Wembley in the 1996 European Championship and in a friendly in Berne two years later.

The Swiss beat the Republic Ireland home and away in the qualifying competition, though they are best remembered for reaching the second round of the World Cup under Roy Hodgson in 1994.

The former Blackburn manager, who also had a successful coaching career in Sweden, believes they are no pushovers. "But England should win," he said. "For the Swiss it's an achievement just to get to the finals. The pressures are not the same. People expect a lot more from England."

They certainly do. We expect to see considerably more from Michael Owen and Beckham, two potential match winners who failed to live up to their billing against France.

Owen, substituted with 20 minutes still to play, was particularly fitful. "I have faith in Michael and I'm quite sure he'll play better tonight than he did against France," said Eriksson.

Owen could face his Liverpool team-mate Stephane Henchoz, a key figure in a no-nonsense back four that will need to be especially diligent because the experienced holding midfield player Johann Vogel is suspended.

Eriksson has John Terry back in defence, having recovered from a hamstring injury, with Paul Scholes fit enough to line-up in what is likely to be a diamond-shaped midfield.

There is an element of risk involved in this system, as Eriksson discovered in the 1-1 draw with Japan in Manchester, but if it's not going to plan he can easily resort to a conventional 4-4-2.

Whatever system he uses England should be good enough to beat Switzerland. If they're not, they don't deserve to progress to the quarter-finals.