England vs Panama. FIFA World Cup Group G.
Nizhny Novgorod StadiumAttendance43,319.
Monday 25 June 2018 13:16, UK
England can secure a place in the knockout stages of the World Cup when they take on Panama on Sunday in Nizhny Novgorod.
Panama, who are ranked 55th in the FIFA world rankings lost their opening game 3-0 against Belgium, but Gareth Southgate is not taking the clash lightly.
"We've seen already the difficulty big countries in terms of rankings have had in breaking down lower-ranked teams," he said. "That's been a theme right the way throughout.
"There's no way there's any complacency in the way we've prepared for the game. The situation in the group is obviously a healthy one for us, but we've got to focus on our performance.
"We want to show people an England team can play in a different way. We've got technically good players, we want them to get on the ball and express themselves and really attack the game like we did the other night."
Meanwhile, Panama coach Hernan Gomez insists his side's game against England will be their hardest of the tournament.
"Against England, we could get the same score [as against Belgium] or even worse," he said. "This is our hardest match by far."
Dele Alli returned to England training on Saturday but remains a doubt to start Sunday's game with Panama. The Tottenham midfielder suffered a thigh injury against Tunisia last week and was described by manager Southgate as only having a "slim chance" of featuring.
Alli was substituted after 80 minutes in England's 2-1 win for Ruben Loftus-Cheek and had a scan on the injury on Tuesday showing a 'slight thigh strain' that needed to be monitored.
Loftus-Cheek is expected to replace Alli in midfield after a photograph of team notes were leaked to the media, with Marcus Rashford also preferred to Raheem Sterling up front. However, Southgate has moved to play down the fallout from England's 'leaked' team and says the line-up photographed will not be the side to play on Sunday.
"There's no drama. The picture the other day wasn't even the team so it was even less of a drama," said Southgate. "It was a list of runners and riders for the training session. I am totally relaxed. I understand a few of the guys (English media) have had a bashing on social media, sorry for that and I don't wish that on anyone as I have had it myself."
During his pre-match press conference, Panama manager Gomez revealed he will stick with the same starting line-up which faced Belgium in their opening game.
Panama team to play England: Penedo, Murillo, Escobar, R Torres, Davis, Gomez, Godoy, Cooper, J Rodriguez, Barcenas, Perez.
This should be a comfortable victory - more comfortable than the Tunisia win. I'd play Raheem Sterling - if you leave him out it will dent his confidence, he's been a big part of this team.
After this one, it's going to be weird watching the England v Belgium game, knowing both teams will probably want to finish second!
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (7/1 with Sky Bet)
England are 2/9 favourites with Sky Bet to beat Panama, who are at 18/1 to win the game, while the draw is priced at 19/4. Harry Kane is the 15/8 favourite to open the scoring, whilst Blas Perez is considered the outsiders' main threat at 12/1 to break the deadlock. Gareth Southgate's men have been cut from 16/1 are 12/1 to win their first major tournament since 1966, whereas Panama have odds of 2500/1 stacked against them.
