Colombia vs England FIFA World Cup 2018 – Lineups, Predictions & Stats Preview 3 July 2018
Colombia and England will face off each other in the last 16 on July 3 2018 at the Otkrytie Arena, Moscow. Colombia finished top of Group H, while England managed 2nd place in Group G. While this promises to be a vicious encounter, the winners of this tie expect to meet Sweden or Switzerland in the quarter finals.
Colombia Probable Lineups and Stats
Colombia began their tournament with a 2-1 loss in the hands of Japan. However, a return for James Rodriguez in the next game against Poland propelled them to a 3-0 victory. Colombia then went on to win their tricky final game against Senegal, and guarantee 1st place after Japan went down 1-0 in the hands of Poland. While they did manage to advance, Colombia star man James Rodriguez came off before halftime in what is a suspected injury, and thus remains a major doubt for the England game.
The loss of James Rodriguez will be a huge blow for Colombia, especially given he was the revelation of the last tournament in Brazil when he won the Golden Boot by scoring the most goals in the whole tournament. Those expected to start for Colombia are Ospina, Mina, D Sanchez, C Sanchez, Juan Cuadrado, Mojica, Arias, Uribe, Quintero, Falcao and Muriel.
England Probable Lineups and Stats
England were pooled in what could have been considered a relatively easy group, with only Belgium being their strongest opponents. England managed to beat Tunisia 2-1, before thrashing Panama 6-1, a result that put their star striker as the leading goal scorer so far with 5 goals. Having already qualified, England made 8 changes and ended up losing their last match 1-0 to the Belgians. While some may argue that this was a chance for their manager to see what other options he has, others may argue that the lack of consistency may come to hurt England even further.
Going into the Colombia match, England do not have any injury worries, with Dele Alli expected to feature after suffering an injury scare. Those expected to be in the line-up when England faceoff with Colombia are Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Dier, Young, Alli, Lingard, Sterling, Kane and Henderson.
Colombia v England – Head to Head
Going into this game, Colombia are ranked 16th, while England are ranked 20th. Colombia reached the quarterfinals in the tournament held by Brazil where they were eliminated by the hosts. When looking at head to head records, Colombia has never defeated England. Both teams have played each other 5 times, with England winning 3 and the other encounters ending in a draw. The last time they met at a World Cup was in 1998 when England won 2-0. Their most recent meeting was in 2005 when England won 3-2.
Expert Tip
While on paper it looks like England are the better team, this encounter can turn out to be a cracker. Colombia had a slow start to the tournament, and with the loss of their star man James Rodriguez, it looks gloomy for them. Falcao, who is considered a world class striker has not lived up to his billing, and given that 2 of their goals have been scored by a defender, Colombia do not look like causing a major upset. England, however, do have what it takes to advance, and if their star man Harry Kane continues with his striking prowess, then England can go far. A 2-0 win by England looks the most probable result.
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