Raheem Sterling Chelsea England
Man City winger Raheem Sterling playing for England

England have eased their way into the knockout stages of the World Cup and in their Round of 16 tie, they will face a buoyant Senegalese side.

Gareth Southgate was under heavy fire for his squad selection for the World Cup but so far, the manager’s every move has worked out brilliantly. Even though a lot of pundits have come out to criticize his team selection, Southgate has disregarded all the chatter and is working with full focus.

However, the real test begins now because Senegal won two out of their three group stages matches and they have conceded only four goals in those games. Even though the African nation will be going into this tie as the underdogs, we just cannot rule out an upset on Sunday evening.

England have done really well in the previous few international tournaments so hopes are high that they are going all the way this time around. The Three Lions manager has insane squad depth so he has no reason to not name his best starting line up against the African champions.

England team news and injuries:

DEFENCE:

Arsenal centre-back Ben White, who left the squad due to personal reasons earlier this week and going into the Round of 16 tie, he is the only absentee for Gareth Southgate.

However, Harry Maguire and John Stones have done superbly well in the first three games so there’s no way the England international is swapping either one of them.

Ben White’s absence won’t be too big a deal for the Three Lions because they have Eric Dier for backup.

Walker played 57 minutes against Wales so he will now be pushing for a place in the back line but we doubt if Southgate is going to risk keeping Kieran Trippier on the bench.

MIDFIELD:

The manager tweaked his formation against Wales which allowed Jordan Henderson to come back into the side but he’s going to revert to a two-man central midfield of Rice and Bellingham.

Mason Mount is also going to come into the side and he is going to play in the attacking midfielder’s role. Phil Foden can also play in that role but the Chelsea man is much more industrious when defending inside his own half.

James Maddison is also available to play in the No 10 role on Sunday but Gareth Southgate is most certainly going to put his faith in the Chelsea midfielder.

ATTACK:

Foden and Marcus Rashford both got starts against Wales and both of them were outstanding. Foden scored the second goal for England sandwiched between two Rashford goals.

Based on performances, the two Manchester lads should be starting on either wing but we think the manager is going to drop Foden to the bench and bring Sterling back into the starting XI.

Gareth Southgate doesn’t trust Foden entirely so he is going to bring back Raheem Sterling and then use Foden and Jack Grealish as subs in the second half.

Bukayo Saka has also done superbly well for Arsenal this season but the England boss will never dare to push both Rashford and Foden to the bench after their fine display against Wales.

England predicted line up vs Senegal:

Predicted Starting XI(4-2-3-1): Pickford; Trippier/Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Declan Rice, Bellingham; Rashford, Mount, Sterling/Foden; Kane.

England predicted line up vs Senegal - World Cup 2022

Stats Fotmob