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A blockbuster World Cup quarter-final is set to take place in Qatar on Saturday night as England take on France for a place in the competition’s final four. The match pits the current holders of the competition against the European Championship’s runners-up.
England come into the game on the back of a 3-0 victory over Senegal. While on paper the result makes it look like England were excellent, their first half display left a lot to be desired. Despite playing averagely, they still managed to score three goals with three separate players getting on the scoresheet which bodes well for the remainder of the tournament.
France have been one of the tournament’s most consistent teams and cruised to a 3-1 victory over Poland in the last round. Didier Deschamps will also believe there is more to come from his team, though and a game of this magnitude could be the spark his team needs to well and truly come to life.
Team news
England
England have been relatively fortunate with injuries throughout the tournament and Gareth Southgate has a clean bill of health across his 25 man squad. Ben White left the tournament after the group stages for personal reasons but the Arsenal man hadn’t featured in any game up to that point anyway.
The only selection issue that Southgate faces relates to Chelsea winger, Raheem Sterling. Sterling has a goal to his name at this year’s Wolrd Cup after netting in their opening game against Iran. Since then, Sterling has had to fly back home to England after a burglary took place at his home in London.
Fortunately for Sterling and England, he is now on his way back Qatar to rejoin the group. Whether he features in the quarter-final against France, though, remains to be seen. At best, you’d think he could only make the substitute bench.
Discourse prior to the match has focused on whether Southgate will revert to a back five to try and combat Mbappe. After playing a back four throughout the tournament so far, it would be very bold and brave for Southgate to change now.
France
For France, they have managed to navigate the tournament so far without Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema. Olivier Giroud has played as the central strike for les bleus throughout the tournament and will surely continue there on Saturday night.
Over the past couple of days, there has been panic in the French camp as Kylian Mbappe has focused on recovery work in the gym as opposed to joining in with training on the pitch. Despite that, there is no indication that the PSG star will miss the crunch quarter-final clash.
Deschamps likes a settled eleven and it is expected that he will pick the same team that toppled Poland for the game on Saturday night.
Predicted lineups
England
Pickford, Walker, Maguire, Stones, Shaw, Rice, Bellingham, Henderson, Foden, Kane, Rashford
France
Lloris, Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, T. Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot, Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud
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