GWT: World Cup - Round of 16 - England v. Senegal

[bluesfan94]

vs .

Teams: England v. Senegal
Time and Date (CST): Sunday, December 4, 1:00 PM
Venue: Al Bayt Stadium
Storyline: When Senegal named their World Cup squad, a lot of their hopes seemed to rest on their prolific forward, Sadio Mane. When he went out injured, there were questions as to whether Senegal would advance or whether Ecuador would send the African team home. An early loss to the Netherlands did little to quiet those concerns, but Senegal put three past Qatar to set up a win-and-you're-in game against Ecuador. Senegal took care of business, scoring a go ahead goal in the 70th minute shortly after conceding an equalizer. Senegal will look to continue its two-game winning streak against England on Sunday. Senegal will be without defensive midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye, who plays for Everton at the club level, who picked up his second yellow card against Ecuador.

England, on the other hand, was a favorite to both top and make it out of its group. It put in a strong offensive display against Iran, although their backline looked leaky at times, albeit once the game was already over. They then had an opportunity to lock up qualifying with a win against the United States, but the United States handily won the midfield battle and England needed help from the post to keep out Pulisic and the United States, earning a draw in which England looked toothless. With qualification and winning the group fairly certain, England rotated some for its last match against rival Wales. Despite a first half filled with possession but devoid of goals, England turned up the heat in the second half, resulting in a comfortable 3-0 win.

This will be the first matchup between the Lions of Teranga and the Three Lions

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[N o o d l e s]

Looks like Senegal-England

 

[bluesfan94]

Looks like Senegal-England

Just wait until Wales 3-0 England and USA 2-0 Iran

 

[Adele Dazeem]

This screams extra-time England winner.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

English should steam roll but Southgate is out of his depth as manager in knockout games.

 

[S E P H]

I could totally see Senegal pulling off the upset, they're a very well-coached team who's quite hard to break down. Hell, if England couldn't break down the USA, who says they're going to break down Senegal? Then the match will enter extra time and anything can happen then. If England's talent comes through, they win this comfortably 3-1.

 

[Rob]

Man I wish Mane was there. Would be super excited for this match.

 

[robertmac43]

Happy to have an African team make it out of the group. Hopefully Ghana joins them.

In terms of the game itself, I don't see Senegal pulling off an upset here, England win comfortably imo.

 

[bluesfan94]

Happy to have an African team make it out of the group. Hopefully Ghana joins them.

In terms of the game itself, I don't see Senegal pulling off an upset here, England win comfortably imo.

Morocco could very likely join them as well.

 

[Allens Five Hole]

Think the winner will need more than a goal. Can definitely see Senegal scoring from a set piece early on and England chasing the match.

 

[member 305909]

I think outside of England almost everybody cheers for Senegal. A much more sympathetic team.

 

[NyQuil]

It'll be interesting to see how England handles an up tempo squad.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Some interesting matchups here.

Assuming Kane is fit and starts, I think he'll have a good time against Koulibaly, who is precisely the type of front-foot defender who Kane's deep dropping is effective against. Easy to forget because he hasn't been scoring, but Kane has three assists in this tournament. Wouldn't surprise me if England scored from Kane dropping in, pulling Kouli with him, and then slipping Saka/Sterling.

Curious to see if Southgate messes with the midfield at all. I said to @Venkman in the other thread that I don't think Mount and Foden are in competition for the same spot, but would be intriguing to see if Southgate disagrees and puts him there after his performance today. I don't think he will (for this team, Foden is a forward, not a midfielder), and so it's Foden v. Saka for the RW spot. IMO, you go with Saka.

Does Walker come right back in? Or do you keep Trippier? Against a defensive side like Senegal, Trippier's set pieces could be really important, but this team does have other good FK takers (Mount and Rasse chief among them). Walker's pace against Ismaila Sarr should give him the edge I think, and that'll be a fun battle.

Anyway, Mendy's been messy lately and this England team has quality (in spite of Sir Gareth), so I reckon it'll be 2-0 - Maguire from a corner and His Holiness Bukayo Saka.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

I love when African teams make it to 16. If Senegal finds a way to do literally everyone outside of England fans a solid here, they'll be superheroes.

Whoever scores the first wins this one IMO; England's not great coming from behind but if they get up on a Mane-less Senegal team early they'll smother them out of the tournament.

 

[Savant]

England win but it’s close. Senegal could do it, but without Mane I don’t think they have enough

 

[Venkman]

Some interesting matchups here.

Assuming Kane is fit and starts, I think he'll have a good time against Koulibaly, who is precisely the type of front-foot defender who Kane's deep dropping is effective against. Easy to forget because he hasn't been scoring, but Kane has three assists in this tournament. Wouldn't surprise me if England scored from Kane dropping in, pulling Kouli with him, and then slipping Saka/Sterling.

Curious to see if Southgate messes with the midfield at all. I said to @Venkman in the other thread that I don't think Mount and Foden are in competition for the same spot, but would be intriguing to see if Southgate disagrees and puts him there after his performance today. I don't think he will (for this team, Foden is a forward, not a midfielder), and so it's Foden v. Saka for the RW spot. IMO, you go with Saka.

Does Walker come right back in? Or do you keep Trippier? Against a defensive side like Senegal, Trippier's set pieces could be really important, but this team does have other good FK takers (Mount and Rasse chief among them). Walker's pace against Ismaila Sarr should give him the edge I think, and that'll be a fun battle.

Anyway, Mendy's been messy lately and this England team has quality (in spite of Sir Gareth), so I reckon it'll be 2-0 - Maguire from a corner and His Holiness Bukayo Saka.

I think Southgate agrees about Mount/Foden. Midfield will be Mount, Bellingham and Rice. With Mount as an 8 or 10. I think Foden could play as a 10 in some games though.

Agree with Saka on the RW. Which leaves Sterling, Rashford and Foden for LW (and Grealish but he hasn't started yet). Foden won the fk for Rashford's goal and scored after being moved to LW against Wales. Rashford's open play goals have come from RW. Southgate probably goes back to Sterling.

Trippier probably starts, Walker has only played 60 minutes since the beginning of October. Like you said Trippier's set pieces could be important. Basically Southgate will revert to the team that started the first two games.

My first thought was 0-0 and penalties. Southgate will be wary of their pace up front.

 

[al secord]

Southgate factor will keep this on a knifes edge. He'll be expecting to utilize Jordan Henderson's speed against a slow moving Senegal....or whatever goes through his head while game planning.

 

[ScottishCanuck]

‘Mon the Senegal

 

[luiginb]

Southgate will drain the joy out of this match. I expect a similar tactic to the one used against the US, limited pressing and letting the opponents have the ball more often than not, as Senegal is mostly dangerous on counters.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Gary Neville: Marcus Rashford 'back on it' and should start for England against Senegal in World Cup

In an interview with Sky Sports senior reporter Melissa Reddy, Gary Neville discusses Englands 3-0 win against Wales and Marcus Rashford and Phil Fodens displays, as well as the unfair criticism for manager Gareth Southgate

www.skysports.com

 

[robertmac43]

Secured a last minute ticket to this one for my last day here. Excited to experience the knockout stages.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

England accidently voted for senegal

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

The Athletic reporting that Sterling misses out on the XI, which leads me to assume that Rashford takes his place.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

4-0 England.

 

[koyvoo]

I don’t see that much of a gulf between these two squads, even with Mane out. I’d be surprised at a 4 goal difference in this one.