Luke Shaw and Kyle Walker will have possibly the toughest job in international football on Saturday when England face France in the World Cup quarter-final.
England looked assured as they sailed to a 3-0 victory over Senegal thanks to goals from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka. However, they will now face their biggest challenge in a tournament since Gareth Southgate took charge in 2016.
France have two of the fastest wingers in football, Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappé, with the latter currently being hailed as the best player in the world. This is rightly so, as his five goals and two assists so far in the tournament have reminded everyone of his individual brilliance.
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If French manager Didier Deschamps is to be believed, he isn’t even playing at his best, a scary thought for any defender. Dembele is also now proving why Barcelona paid £115 million to acquire his services after finally piecing together an injury-free season, contributing four goals and five assists in La Liga so far.
This is why Shaw and Walker will need to be at their absolute best to keep the duo quiet. Both were troubled by Senegal wingers Ismaïla Sarr and Krepin Diatta early on but managed to keep them subdued after a few wobbles. Their pace made it the perfect audition for Saturday’s showdown, and the pair seemed to handle it well.
Not many defenders boast the same physical attributes as Mbappé but Walker comes close. The veteran has just come back from a lengthy groin injury, which hasn’t seemed to slow him down at all.
He is the perfect candidate to deal with the winger’s incisive runs into the box, and it’s almost a given that his offensive game will be minimised due to the size of his task. However, he has all the tools to keep him away from fellow City defender John Stones.
Shaw faces a slightly different assignment on the left side. Dembele likes to create for his teammates around the box and the 27-year-old will have to be wary of his pinpoint crosses for target man Olivier Giroud.
Shaw has been typically solid throughout the tournament, but this will be his first encounter with a truly world-class winger. If he can keep the winger from creating for his teammates, England will have a great chance of reaching consecutive World Cup semi-finals.
The Three Lions are the only team yet to lose in Qatar, but a matchup against the reigning champions was always going to be a potential stumbling block. However, if Shaw and Walker can assist in guiding the team past Les Blues, England should be confident that they can go one step further than last time and reach their first World Cup final since 1966.
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