England are heading the last 16 of the World Cup after a late comeback against DR Congo. Their reward for this late victory, a clash against hosts Mexico in their homeland of Mexico City at the infamous Azteca Stadium. With a huge raucous crowd expected along with altitude and temperature considerations, before a ball has even been kicked, we’re in for a treat to round off the weekend late on Sunday, early Monday morning.

In this preview, we will be looking ahead to the game and talking about the team news for both sides, form coming into the clash, key battles to look out for and of course our prediction for how this one could play out.

Let us know your thoughts on this game and England at the World Cup using our social media channels, and check back with us after the game where we will have our review of the action.

Team News

England’s squad for this clash looks reasonably prepared for the clash, with no injury additions thankfully from the clash with DR Congo. Full-back remains a consideration for Tuchel as the Livramento, James and Quansah injury concerns have plagued this tournament. While there’s some talk that both Reece James and Jarell Quansah could be back in contention, there’s also questions over whether Tuchel opts for Djed Spence again to start in this role, Ezri Konsa being given a new role or we could even see the Declan Rice experiment later in the game.

In the other areas of the pitch, it’s business as usual. There will be battles for the wide attacking roles as we have seen throughout the tournament, but it’s likely we will see Gordon and Saka depending on fitness, with options of Rashford and Madueke possibly used later if needed to add some fresh legs.

For their opponents Mexico, they appear to be operating with a clean bill of health, and have the names including Raul Jimenez and Julián Quiñones which England will need to cautious of given their form at the tournament thus far.

Form

England’s form at the tournament has been solid yet unremarkable. With only the second 45 minutes against Croatia as a clear example of the quality England possess, the other games have seen the team unable to break down opponents like the draw with Ghana, and even in their victories against Panama and DR Congo, there’s been several shaky moments.

In their last 32 clash with DR Congo, they fell behind early to a goal inside of 7 minutes, with the rest of the clash forcing chance after chance with little/no reward until Harry Kane found a way through. Given Mexico’s fast starts in some of their games, England will need to switch on from the kick-off or risk another tough start to the game.

Mexico have quietly become a standout of the tournament with 4 wins from 4 games, they’ve scored 8 goals with 0 conceded, a remarkable run that has seen them get past South Africa, South Korea, Czechia and Ecuador in their games so far. Of their 8 goals, 5 have come from their 2 main attacking threats in Jimenez and Julián Quiñones, so England will need to be switched on in what has been a shaky defence thus far.

In their last 32 game, Mexico brushed past Ecuador 2-0 with both goals coming inside of the first half. Although Ecuador had some chances in the second 45, the game was done and dusted by this point, and the Mexico City Stadium crowd will be a huge part in the clash as they believe their nation can go all the way, and won’t be fearful of England given their recent results.

Key Battles

A key battle from the England attack will be Kane and Bellingham against the centre-back pairing of Vasquez-Montes as the Mexican defence are yet to concede in their 4 games so far, while Kane and Bellingham have been England’s main threat in their games to this point with 7 of the 8 goals scored from the superstar pairing.

In defence, the battle will certainly be down England’s right side, with Tuchel struggling for options and availability in the right-back position, it will potentially give the likes of Raul Jimenez and Julián Quiñones a huge chance to add to this pressure. I expect Ezri Konsa will likely be moved into the right-back role to start, allowing a bit more defensive protection against the Mexico threat.

Finally, we could see the young star of Gilberto Mora starting this one as he did against Ecuador. The 17 year old became the second-youngest player to start a World Cup knockout game behind Pele as they claimed a victory, and with the nation keen to see him perform again, he could be in for a huge showing.

Prediction

This game is entirely unpredictable. On paper, England would have the better squad, however this certainly evens out when you add in the form of Mexico, the environment of the game and the conditions and atmosphere of the home stadium. It’s a game that could bore fans to sleep at 1am with a stalemate between the sides, however I predict it will go the other way with both teams attacking and pushing on to try and claim a result.

My prediction will be that Mexico has the early advantage, as England will struggle in the first 20 minutes and could see themselves a goal down early. However, as gaps open up with Mexico unwilling to sit on their lead, England will level before half-time, and in the second half we see the game really open up with plenty of chances in which England thankfully come away with a win in an exciting encounter (hopefully).

Predicted score: England 3-2 Mexico

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