Six shots on target in the first half, several shots off target which should have been in the back of the net and 1-1 at the break; when the halftime whistle blew in Volgograd between England and Tunisia, seasoned England fans will have nodded their heads and thanked their stars for their lucky escape.<\/p>\n
England began their 2-1 win against Tunisia like a side on a mission to forget recent disappointments and from the start Gareth Southgate’s young guns went for it, using the width of the pitch and playing with pace and style to carve Tunisia apart time after time. But this might not be enough when they face a quality side like Belgium who have a ludicrous amount of talent available in all departments.<\/p>\n
No Kompany, no problem:Belgium’s Rock solid Defence<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2018\/06\/toby-alderweireld-en-jan-vertonghen-730x400.jpg\")
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In the heart of defence, Belgium really are not short of options. Kompany, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Thomas Vermaelen provide the team with a watertight structure at the back.<\/p>\n
Paris Saint-Germain’s Thomas Meunier will provide the width down the right and is never afraid to get forward when the opportunity arises.<\/p>\n
Belgium may struggle down the left though, with Atletico Madrid’s Yannick Carrasco recently being deployed in an unusual position of wing-back in the country’s pre-World Cup friendlies.<\/p>\n
Belgium have a ridiculous wealth of talent all over the pitch but do appear to lack depth in central defence. Toby Alderweireld made his eighth appearance in 2018 alongside Jan Vertoghen and Dedryck Boyata, with Vincent Kompany ruled out through injury.<\/p>\n
Martinez chose Boyata, who joined Celtic from Manchester City in 2015, to be the captain\u2019s replacement after impressing when given a chance in tournament warm-up games. The 27-year-old looked composed on the ball and stuck to his task in defence.In the first half, Belgium occupied 62 per cent of possession which could tempt Martinez to switch to four at the back in order to get more players involved in attacking areas.<\/p>\n
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Lukaku-Hazard-De Bryne: The Incisive attacking Trio<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2018\/06\/lukakudebruyne-cropped_1swc8ptjcl0r81u1fyo5sfwoa4-730x400.jpg\")
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With De Bruyne, Hazard and Co feeding the balls through to Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku, there should be goals galore for Belgium.<\/p>\n
Lukaku, who became Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer at the tender age of 24, will cause defences a host of problems with his aerial and finishing ability.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Martinez can also call on Napoli’s Dries Mertens and Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi. They are definitely not short of firepower up top.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Problems for England: Inexperienced Backline can concedede vital goals<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2018\/06\/977960602.jpg\")
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One of Southgate\u2019s boldest tactical decisions as England boss is playing Kyle Walker, arguably the Premier League\u2019s best right-back, as the right-sided central defender in his back three.<\/p>\n
It means the former Tottenham Hotspur man\u2019s defensive skills are tested far more often with England than with Manchester City, where he spends the majority of games attacking.<\/p>\n
While he looked comfortable in the role for much of the game, one error did prove costly.<\/p>\n
After John Stones had pushed forward, Walker slotted into the middle of the defence to cover. And he was caught out.<\/p>\n
A speculative ball from the right looked to pick out striker Fakhreddine Ben Youssef. The 26-year-old smartly ran into Walker\u2019s elbow and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.<\/p>\n
Former centre-back, Rio Ferdinand made the point during BBC\u2019s coverage to say the former Spurs man had gotten his body position all wrong and this could have easily been avoided.<\/p>\n
Almost like he isn\u2019t used to playing in that role. It\u2019s one thing to look fantastic going forward, but to go deep in tournaments, you need a defensive solidity across the midfield and defence. England\u2019s opening game, although they won 2-1 in the end, it showed there is work still to do.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Problems for Belgium: Red Devils can be vulnerable on one flank<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2018\/06\/YannickCarrascoMichaelMurilloBelgiumvP-61hYnsTnTl-600x400.jpg\")
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Playing Yannick Carrasco, who predominantly operates as an attacking winger, at left wing-back is inviting the opposition to try and exploit that area. This was almost Panama\u2019s route to their first ever World Cup goal when a lofted ball found Michael Murillo in space behind Carrasco. The Panama full-back took his time to set the ball then forced a near-post save from Thibaut Courtois.<\/p>\n
Jan Vertoghen may have to look for a remedy to ease a sore throat after all the shouting he did at the 24-year-old. Martinez is not spoiled for choice when it comes to fullbacks so Carrasco is likely to continue playing the role he did during qualifying, an exciting prospect for any opposition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Harry Kane marked his World Cup debut with a stoppage-time winner as England made hard work of overcoming Tunisia 2-1 in its Group G opener. Six shots on target in the first half, several shots off target which should have been in the back of the net and 1-1 at the break; when the halftime whistle blew in Volgograd between England and Tunisia, seasoned England fans will have nodded their heads and thanked their stars for their lucky escape. England began their 2-1 win against Tunisia like a side on a mission to forget recent disappointments and from the start Gareth Southgate’s young guns went for it, using the width … Continue reading “Battle of Group G: England looked Shaky against Tunisia,Belgium on mark vs Panama”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":1005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[402,401,403],"class_list":["post-1003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-belgium","tag-england","tag-group-g"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
With De Bruyne, Hazard and Co feeding the balls through to Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku, there should be goals galore for Belgium.<\/p>\n
Lukaku, who became Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer at the tender age of 24, will cause defences a host of problems with his aerial and finishing ability.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Martinez can also call on Napoli’s Dries Mertens and Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi. They are definitely not short of firepower up top.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Problems for England: Inexperienced Backline can concedede vital goals<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n One of Southgate\u2019s boldest tactical decisions as England boss is playing Kyle Walker, arguably the Premier League\u2019s best right-back, as the right-sided central defender in his back three.<\/p>\n It means the former Tottenham Hotspur man\u2019s defensive skills are tested far more often with England than with Manchester City, where he spends the majority of games attacking.<\/p>\n While he looked comfortable in the role for much of the game, one error did prove costly.<\/p>\n After John Stones had pushed forward, Walker slotted into the middle of the defence to cover. And he was caught out.<\/p>\n A speculative ball from the right looked to pick out striker Fakhreddine Ben Youssef. The 26-year-old smartly ran into Walker\u2019s elbow and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.<\/p>\n Former centre-back, Rio Ferdinand made the point during BBC\u2019s coverage to say the former Spurs man had gotten his body position all wrong and this could have easily been avoided.<\/p>\n Almost like he isn\u2019t used to playing in that role. It\u2019s one thing to look fantastic going forward, but to go deep in tournaments, you need a defensive solidity across the midfield and defence. England\u2019s opening game, although they won 2-1 in the end, it showed there is work still to do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Playing Yannick Carrasco, who predominantly operates as an attacking winger, at left wing-back is inviting the opposition to try and exploit that area. This was almost Panama\u2019s route to their first ever World Cup goal when a lofted ball found Michael Murillo in space behind Carrasco. The Panama full-back took his time to set the ball then forced a near-post save from Thibaut Courtois.<\/p>\n Jan Vertoghen may have to look for a remedy to ease a sore throat after all the shouting he did at the 24-year-old. Martinez is not spoiled for choice when it comes to fullbacks so Carrasco is likely to continue playing the role he did during qualifying, an exciting prospect for any opposition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Harry Kane marked his World Cup debut with a stoppage-time winner as England made hard work of overcoming Tunisia 2-1 in its Group G opener. Six shots on target in the first half, several shots off target which should have been in the back of the net and 1-1 at the break; when the halftime whistle blew in Volgograd between England and Tunisia, seasoned England fans will have nodded their heads and thanked their stars for their lucky escape. England began their 2-1 win against Tunisia like a side on a mission to forget recent disappointments and from the start Gareth Southgate’s young guns went for it, using the width … Continue reading “Battle of Group G: England looked Shaky against Tunisia,Belgium on mark vs Panama”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":1005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[402,401,403],"class_list":["post-1003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-belgium","tag-england","tag-group-g"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\nProblems for Belgium: Red Devils can be vulnerable on one flank<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n