England and France have both named unchanged starting lineups as they prepare to face off in a highly-anticipated World Cup quarter-final on Saturday night.
With England comfortably dispatching Senegal in a 3-0 win and Les Bleus seeing off Poland courtesy of some Kylian Mbappe magic, it would seem neither manager felt the need to reinvent the wheel ahead of this match – and with the form their sides are in, you can see why.
There had been some speculation over whether or not Gareth Southgate would revert to a back five against France in order to counteract the threat of Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, similar to the England manager’s approach in the Euro 2020 final against Italy.
However, with England firmly in their groove at this World Cup while playing in a 4-3-3 formation, it seems Southgate has opted to stick to what he knows and use the formation that has propelled his side to the status of tournament favourites.
GK: Jordan Pickford; RB: Kyle Walker, CB: John Stones, CB: Harry Maguire, LB: Luke Shaw; CDM: Declan Rice, CM: Jude Bellingham, CM: Jordan Henderson; RW: Bukayo Saka, LW: Phil Foden; ST: Harry Kane
GK: Hugo Lloris; RB: Jules Kounde, CB: Raphael Varane, CB: Dayot Upamecano, LB: Theo Hernandez; CM: Adrien Rabiot, CM: Aurelien Tchouameni; RW: Ousmane Dembele, CAM: Antoine Griezmann, LW: Kylian Mbappe; ST: Olivier Giroud.
Credit: 90min.com
