England team vs USA predicted for World Cup fixture as…

England team vs USA predicted for World Cup fixture as Harry Kane decision made

England's World Cup got off to an excellent start on Monday, with Bukayo Saka's brace helping the Three Lions to a 6-2 win against Iran in their Group B encounter.

The win gives England an excellent platform from which to launch their campaign in Qatar as they face the USA in their second fixture on Friday evening. The USMNT drew their first match against Wales, with Chelsea's Christian Pulisic assisting the opener for Timothy Weah before Gareth Bale levelled the scores with a late penalty.

Now they face England, who will be buoyed by their impressive opening day performance but face some injury concerns heading into the match. The main problem faced by Gareth Southgate will be the the fitness of captain Harry Kane, who suffered an ankle injury in the opening match before playing on for a further 25 minutes.

Kane was confirmed to be available for the match on Friday by Southgate, with the Tottenham man having had a scan on the injury which showed no problems despite the 2018 Golden Boot winner being seen to be limping after the Iran win. The England boss will now face a choice as to whether to risk Kane against the USA, with Marcus Rashford and Callum Wilson ready to fill his spot in the forward line.

England have consistently played with a 3-4-3 system since Euro 2020, but reverted to a 4-2-3-1 system on Monday and enjoyed huge success despite the two goals conceded. Southgate only deployed the same system once during last summer's Euros in the 4-0 quarter final win against Ukraine and Monday's win yielded similar results leaving pressure on Southgate to make a similar decision and secure another memorable win.

Southgate will also face a dilemma as to whether or not to save other players for the matches ahead, having already seen his side secure their first win. Players such as Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold may be given their chance as Southgate potentially shuffles his pack ahead of facing Wales on Tuesday evening.

Alexander-Arnold was eligible to play for the USA before choosing to represent England and scored his only England goal against them in a 2018 friendly. With one of the best right-backs in the world available on his bench, the England boss is blessed with options for his side's second match and will be optimistic ahead of what is one of the most anticipated group stage fixtures.

Here is the predicted England XI for the match against the USA on Friday night:

England predicted XI vs USA:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Jordan Pickford - Trent Alexander-Arnold, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw - Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice - Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling - Harry Kane