World Cup Qualifier team news and prediction: England vs Poland
England round off their international break with their toughest assignment to date by welcoming Group I rivals Poland.
Ahead of their third and final game, we have all your need-to-know matchday information in one place, including team news, probable XIs and where you can catch the game.
When is kick off?
Wednesday 31st March, 19:45 GMT
Where is the match?
Wembley, London (England)
Where can I watch it?
ITV
Qualification Recap
England have started their qualification campaign with back-to-back wins over San Marino and Albania, as expected. The Three Lions have scored seven unanswered goals in that time and haven't even conceded a shot on target.
Poland fought from 2-0 and 3-2 down to rescue a 3-3 draw away to Hungary in their opening group game before running out 3-0 winners against Andorra at the weekend. Against Andorra they limited their opponents to just 50 completed passes, with Polish centre-back Kamil Piatowski managing more than double that by himself (103).
Team News
England are expected to revert back to a three-man defence for the welcome of Poland after starting the first two games with a back four. John Stones and Harry Maguire will be joined by Kyle Walker in defence, with Luke Shaw and Reece James expected to get the nod over Ben Chilwell and Kieran Trippier at left and right wing-back, respectively. Mason Mount and Declan Rice will anchor things in midfield, with Jesse Lingard set to get the nod over Phil Foden in a huge show of confidence by Southgate. Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling will lead the line.
Poland have been rocked by a knee injury to star striker Robert Lewandowski, who is now sidelined for four weeks. With Arkadiusz Milik and Krzysztof Piatek in reserve, Poland have good options up front but the loss of Lewandowski, who has scored 46 goals in 42 games in all competitions this season, is an obvious blow. Kamil Piatowski and Lukasz Skorupski are both unavailable due to positive COVID-19 tests but Poland have at least recovered key midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak.
Probable XIs
England (3412): Pope; Walker, Stones, Maguire; James, Rice, Mount, Shaw; Lingard; Sterling, Kane
Poland (4312): Szczesny; Bereszynski, Bednarek, Glik, Rybus; Moder, Krychowiak, Jozwiak; ZIelinski, Milik, Piatek
Key Battle: Mason Mount vs Piotr Zielinski
Deprived of a mouthwatering clash of the best strikers in the world in Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski, we will instead have to settle for a battle of two creative midfielders of Mason Mount and Piotr Zielinski.
Mount has developed into an integral player for club and country this season and the Chelsea midfielder is England's highest rated player in qualification of those to have featured in both matches. The 22-year-old is also Chelsea's best rated player in the Premier League and has eight goal involvements to his name. A return of 2.5 key passes per game ranks fourth in the division behind only Jack Grealish, Kevin de Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes.
With Lewandowski unavailable, there will be an even greater importance placed on the shoulders of Zielinski. Arkadiusz Milik and Krzysztof Piatek are certainly no slouches in front of goal but they have certainly lost one of Europe's most ruthless finishers in Lewandowski. Zielinski has both more goals (6) and more assists (6) than Mount in the league this season despite averaging fewer shots per game (1.7) and key passes per game (1.2) than his opposite number. He will be key at linking Poland's midfield and attack at Wembley.
Scoreline Prediction: England 1-0 Poland
