TEAM NEWS
Belgium: Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen, Meunier, Witsel, De Bruyne, Tielemans, Chadli, Lukaku, Hazard.
Subs: Vermaelen, Fellaini, Carrasco, Mignolet, Casteels, Mertens, Hazard, Januzaj, Dembele, Boyata, Batshuayi, Dendoncker.
England: Pickford, Jones, Stones, Maguire, Trippier, Dier, Delph, Rose, Loftus-Cheek, Sterling, Kane.
Subs: Walker, Lingard, Henderson, Vardy, Butland, Welbeck, Cahill, Young, Rashford, Alli, Alexander-Arnold, Pope.
PREVIOUS MEETING…
Have two sides ever met twice at the same World Cup with so little at stake in either game?
When they clashed in the group stages, England made eight changes and Belgium made nine, for a game that neither seemed too keen to win for fear of ending up on the “harder” half of the draw.
It was Belgium who ended up edging the contest and finishing top of Group G after Adnan Januzaj’s brilliant strike in the 51st minute.
OPTA STAT
England’s defeat to Croatia in their last match was their 100th competitive defeat – each of their last six competitive losses have been at major tournaments (five at the World Cup, one at the European Championships).
Belgium finished as bronze medalist at the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Saturday.
They defeated England 2-0 in the third place match played at Saint Petersburg Stadium at the front of a 64, 406 spectators.
Belgium side began on a serious minded note as Meunier opens the scoring as early as the 4th minute.
They sealed the third place spot with a second goal at 82nd minute by Hazard as they trailed tackles with England national team.
Recall that Belgium had defeated England in the group stage in the tournament