England vs Belgium: Preview, predictions and lineups

England will be aiming to bounce back from their defeat to Brazil on Saturday when they host Belgium in their second March friendly on Tuesday night.

The Three Lions struggled on home soil at the weekend as they succumbed to their first loss under the Wembley arch since 2020. Gareth Southgate’s side struggled to penetrate an inexperienced Brazil side and surrendered far too much space to their excellent front three.

Given the discourse surrounding the manager, this feels like a big game for Southgate ahead of Euro 2024.

Belgium, meanwhile, also disappointed at the weekend as they played out a stalemate with Ireland. The Red Devils have generally impressed under Domenico Tedesco as they head into a post-Golden Generation era. However, they were profligate in Dublin and are without a couple of core figures for this friendly.

Here’s 90min’s preview for England’s clash against Belgium on Tuesday night.

England vs Belgium H2H Record (Last Five Games)

Current Form (all competitions)

The worst injury crisis of Southgate’s tenure has worsened since the weekend. Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker have all left the squad and will not feature on Tuesday night.

Bukayo Saka also withdrew before Saturday’s defeat to Brazil.

Cole Palmer was absent from the squad at the weekend but could return to the fold against Belgium. Southgate will be expected to make several changes to his starting XI, with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jarrod Bowen, James Maddison and Ivan Toney in line for starts.

England predicted lineup vs Belgium (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Konsa, Stones, Dunk, Gomez; Rice, Bellingham; Bowen, Maddison, Rashford; Toney.

Belgium are also without a couple of heavy hitters on Tuesday night. Kevin De Bruyne was not called up for their March fixtures, with Tedesco also without Romelu Lukaku due to a groin strain.

An illness means Nottingham Forest midfielder Orel Mangala is a doubt for the upcoming friendly, while defender Arthur Theatre is struggling with a thigh injury.

Premier League stars Amadou Onana and Jeremy Doku could come into the team having appeared off the bench on Saturday.

Belgium predicted lineup vs England (4-3-3): Kaminski; Meunier, De Winter, Faes, Castagne; Onana, Tielemans, Vermeeren; Bakayoko, Trossard, Doku.

England’s struggles against top footballing nations continued at the weekend, with Southgate’s bolder approach out of possession failing to pay dividends.

It wouldn’t be a surprise, given the absence of key personnel, for the hosts to adopt a more cautious game plan without the ball and aim to hit the visitors in transition.

This doesn’t have the makings of a classic with both teams without key men and it could be decided by an error at either end of the pitch. Wout Faes is surely more likely to make the blunder than John Stones.

Prediction: England 1-0 Belgium

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