After topping their group following the win over Panama, England now have their last 32 opponent confirmed in DR Congo, a side who surprised many in progressing from their group which included Columbia, Portugal and Uzbekistan. While England vs DR Congo should sound like a favourable tie for Tuchels’ side, there are some recognisable talents in the DR Congo side, and given the struggles against Ghana and Panama in breaking down a defence, this might be tougher than some predict.

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.

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Team News

England’s availability thankfully remains largely the same as the group stages, with Tuchel still being able to create flexibility in his wide roles in attack, and finally seeming to be set on his centre back pairing of Guehi-Konsa. However, full-back remains a real headache for Tuchel as despite Nico O’Reilly securing the left side of the defence, the right-side sees more injury concerns as Quansah and James will likely be unavailable for the clash, leaving a decision over Spence or possibly Konsa coming in to fill this role.

For DR Congo, it appears to be a clean bill of health for them despite the tough group they’ve faced. Within their ranks are several Premier League talents and notable names, with Yoane Wissa their main attacking threat, Sunderland’s Noah Sadiki able to cover every blade of grass and the defence containing Wan-Bissaka, Axel Tuanzebe and another Sunderland man in Arthur Masuaku along with Mbemba who has spent time at Newcastle, Porto, Marseille and currently Lille.

Form

England’s group campaign was a mixed bag to say the least, and while they remain unbeaten across the 3 games thus far, it’s been more of a struggle than most would have hoped for given the talents at their disposal.

In England’s opener against Croatia, they showed a dominant second half display which put them into the conversation with France, Spain etc as potentially able to go all the way, but after a draw with Ghana and struggle to beat Panama, this conversation has certainly calmed down and England instead look less of a force for teams to fear.

For DR Congo, they survived a tough group containing Columbia, Portugal and Uzbekistan and came away with one of the 3rd place qualification spots after a draw with Portugal as they dealt with the likes of Ronaldo and Fernandes with relative ease, they then suffered defeat against a Columbia side who have really turned up their quality at the tournament thus far, and then secured progression by beating Uzbekistan 3-1 on the final game.

Their final result coming against Uzbekistan gives DR Congo a huge morale boost as they looked good in attack with their talisman Yoane Wissa getting in on the scoring action, and he will pose another threat for England given their shaky defensive moments.

Key Battles

From a DR Congo perspective, their main attacking threat comes from Newcastle’s Yoane Wissa, a player that the England squad will be accustomed to given his years in the Premier League. Given his form from the last game, the likely centre-back pairing of Guehi-Konsa will need to be switched on to keep an eye on his threat to create chances and his ability to score a variety of goals including his effort from outside of the box against Uzbekistan.

With England’s attack, the other key battle will be with the front line of England probably looking like Rashford-Kane-Madueke with Bellingham in support. This front 4 will need to be on form to break down a tough defence containing Wan-Bissaka who is one of the best 1-1 defenders on his day, Sunderland’s Masuaku, Burnley’s Axel Tuanzebe and Lille’s Chancel Mbemba who captains the side, before then having to face Lionel Mpasi-Nzau who despite being second choice for his club, has been able to keep out some huge name attackers thus far. While chances will come for England, if the game follows a pattern of the Portugal clash in their group opener, DR Congo could frustrate and shut down this England attack.

Prediction

While I’ve made some statement to the fact that DR Congo pose a tough test for England as they will likely take the approach of both Ghana and Panama by looking to frustrate England’s attack, and look for opportunities to break via Wissa, I think England should be more aware of how to show this patience against a defence and will unlock this by the hour mark to open the scoring. As the game nears an end, I think DR Congo will be forced to open up more and leave gaps which England will look to capitalise upon with fresh legs off the bench and should see the game out before 90 minutes is up.

Predicted score: England 2-0 DR Congo

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