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England’s World Cup qualifier against Montenegro is a make-or-break fixture for the Three Lions. They’ve been thoroughly underwhelming throughout the group stage so far and in order to prevent dropping to the playoff rounds, must chalk up a victory tonight to avoid dropping into the playoff stages of the competition. In order to do that, however, they’ve got to get their starting squad right—all the way from their goalkeeper to the top of their attack.
Here’s how England should attack Montenegro.
GK: Joe Hart, Manchester City
Having received backing from Roy Hodgson, Joe Hart appears likely to start in this one. The 26-year-old has had his wobbles this season, but has averaged just 1.14 goals against this year in the Premier League, with a strong claim success rate of 93%. He was slightly better against Everton than he was against Bayern Munich, and should bounce back again here.
RB: Kyle Walker, Tottenham
Another favourite of Hodgson, Walker should again be picked here to offer a nice overlapping presence down the right-flank. The 23-year-old has started all seven games for Spurs this season, and showed serious potency at both ends of the pitch—winning 12 of his 16 attempted tackles, but also completing 8 of his 12 attempted take-ons. He has also created more goal-scoring chances than any other defender in the Premier League this season with 13 chances created.
CB: Phil Jagielka, Everton
A favourite of Hodgson throughout the qualifiers, Jagielka should retain his central defensive position alongside Cahill, with whom he is slowly forming a very sound partnership. In his seven domestic appearances for Everton this year, the 31-year-old has won 100% of his attempted tackles, 69% of his attempted headed duels and leads the club with an average of 11 defensive actions per game—numbers that England he reproduces against Montenegro.
CB: Gary Cahill, Chelsea
Cahill might not be the most physically imposing defenders in world football, but he reads the game very well, and will start in this one. The Chelsea man missed the last two Premier League games for the Blues due to the return of David Luiz from injury, but was strong before that—averaging six defensive actions per game and winning 18 of 22 attempted headed duels.
LB: Leighton Baines, Everton
With Ashley Cole injured, Baines is an automatic selection here—and what an important role he will play down the left for England! No other player in Europe’s major leagues created as many chances as Baines did last season for the Toffees, and he has continued that with further strong performances this season—currently ranked as Everton’s best player in the season to date.
CM: Steven Gerrard, Liverpool
Hodgson has some interesting decisions to make around how his midfield structure will work, but one decision that is made for him is the selection of Gerrard in his favoured central role. Gerrard has been a regular of the national team over the past decade, and with a Performance Score of close to double any other Liverpool player this year, he is certainly in good form as well.
Liverpool Top Performance Scorers This SeasonCM: Frank Lampard, Chelsea
On paper a central midfielder, look for Lampard to be given quite a free-running role in Hodgson’s 4-3-3 that offers great flexibility at both ends of the field. He has the experience required to thrive in big games like this one, and as shown from his Heat Map against Hull earlier in the year, he has the positional know-how to break open any defence in world football with the right support.
Frank Lampard Heat Map v HullAMC: Wayne Rooney, Manchester United
It is likely that Rooney will play in role behind the striker tonight, thus dropping deep to support the two-man midfield when off the ball, while on the ball his he will look to use his expansive passing range to bring the other attackers into the game.
AMR: Andros Townsend, Tottenham
The Daily Mail report that the Spurs flying-winger could make his debut tonight. Townsend is an incredibly tricky winger, one who loves to dribble and loves to shoot. This season, he has completed the most take-ons in the whole Premier League.
LW: Danny Welbeck, Manchester United
Obviously not a traditional winger, Welbeck will still be very comfortable playing out on the left. He will look to utilise his pace and quick link-up play with Rooney to hurt Montenegro. The 22-year-old has already bagged two goals so far this season at an impressive conversion rate of 28%, and will look to increase his international tally with another goal or two here.
Striker: Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool
Leading the line will most likely be Daniel Sturridge. The Liverpool man leads the league in goals scored with six in seven games (55% of the Reds’ total goals this year), and also has two assists to his name. However, one potential issue could be if England play direct football, this will not be the best way to utilise the striker, as he hasn’t won a single aerial duel this season.
