World Cup 2018: 3 reasons why England lost against Belgium

#2 Fresh setup loses midfield battle entirely

Dier found it tough to negotiate with the midfield duo of Fellaini and Dembele

This was only bound to happen. As opposed to England's midfield comprising of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph and Eric Dier, Belgium had Marouane Fellaini, Mousa Dembele, Tielemans, Thorgan Hazard and Adnan Januzaj though the latter two were playing in a more advanced role.

But Fellaini and Dembele proved to be far too experienced for Dier and co as they kept the ball with relative ease.

In fact, they were dominating the aerial duels and were also quick to latch on to the loose balls. However, England would have been a much different side if they had the likes of Henderson, Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli.