After putting enormous pressure on themselves with defeat in the first game in the World Cup England already find themselves in a make or break situation.
Lose and they are definitely out. If England draw they will have to rely on other results to go their way in order to progress in the competition.
So, realistically, only a win for England will allow the nation to sleep well tonight.
Hopefully England boss Roy Hodgson will see that Ross Barkley has to play at this World Cup. For too long The Three Lions have been a reactive team who play on the back foot and who try to scratch a goal and then hang on for dear life.
But England no longer has the defence to do that so they need to take the game of the opposition. They certainly have the players to do it. And soccersweep believes that Ross Barkley is the man for the job. Even at 20 years of age he can control games and drive England to victory.
But sadly we think he will be overlooked again tonight and that Danny Welbeck will be the fourth member of England’s attacking quartet once more.
We don’t dislike Welbeck. We just think the Barkley is a game changer who, if played at number 10, would also give the team better balance. If you put Daniel Sturridge, a left-footer, out on the left instead of Welbeck and Barkley at number 10 it would leave Rooney, at number 9, to get on with the job of scoring goals – and that’s what he’s always done best.
But it’s probably not going to happen is it? Instead we are almost certainly looking at a front line of Welbeck and Sterling on the flanks and Sturridge up top with Rooney in the hole. Still not bad at all if England take the game to the porous defence of the Uruguayans.
So it looks like a case of a slightly different formation but exactly the same team to face Uruguay this evening.
In terms of a prediction it’s impossible to call and I don’t want to put the kiss of death on England – on Saturday I opined that ‘Balotelli has done next to nothing’ two minutes before he scored – egg. Face. Loads. Dripping. Clothes. And reputation. Ruined….
So I’m leaving the predictions to 2 of my Bezzies. Good luck England…
Likely England Team: Hart, Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines – Gerrard, Henderson – Sterling, Rooney, Welbeck – Sturridge
Bezzy Adam : 2-1 either way. Hopefully England but probably Uruguay.
Bezzy Aaron: 2-0 to The Three Lions
soccersweep writer Nathan Gibson: I’m thinking England might just scrape a 2-1 win
