Gareth Southgate has revealed he picked his team to face France last Monday.
The England boss looks set to pick an unchanged line-up against the World Cup holders with a back four and Harry Kane leading the attack. Southgate has enjoyed keeping the players guessing and they have tried to keep the starting XI a hotly-guarded secret, but there will be no surprises among the management set-up.
England are ready to go toe-to-toe with France despite their attacking might in the form of Kylian Mbappe. Southgate said: “We decided [the starting XI] on Monday. We’d already watched by Monday night all the games of France, we’d already reviewed our game from Senegal.
“So we’re very clear on the right path because then you’ve got to deliver that through the week. We’re comfortable with where we’re at.”
Jordan Pickford will almost certainly start in goal again after keeping three successive clean sheets, against United States, Wales and Senegal. He has also been preparing for penalty shootouts and has described the Adidas Al Rihla match ball as a "rascal".
“The balls are a bit rascal, definitely,” he said. “The balls are a bit different to what I’m used to in the Premier League.
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“They are called speed-shells, so there’s your clue. It’s a bit weird really. It is just a slightly different type of ball, a different brand, something you have to readjust to straight away. My kicking distance has still been the same but they’re a bit faster.”
Southgate would have considered moving to a three-man defence, so often his comfort blanket in more testing matches, but is likely to ignore is usual instincts to stick with the back four which has worked well so far in Qatar.
That will mean Kyle Walker will continue his return from injury, which has not seen him concede a goal so far, with ever-presents Harry Maguire, John Stones and Luke Shaw completing the backline.
The midfield picks itself with Declan Rice's shield paired with Jordan Henderson's industry and Jude Bellingham's Paul Gascoigne-like instincts. Borussia Dortmund man Bellingham, in particular, has made himself undroppable after exploding on the world stage against Senegal.
Raheem Sterling returned to the group this week after missing the round-of-16 victory after his house was broken into, but the Chelsea winger is unlikely to start versus Les Bleus. Marcus Rashford too will miss out on starting again, although will be used as an impact player off the bench.
Therefore, the front three will also be unchanged from the Senegal game, with captain Kane hoping to add to his first goal of the tournament, with Phil Foden and live wire Bukayo Saka either side of him.
England predicted XI to face France (4-3-3): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Henderson, Bellingham; Foden, Saka, Kane.
