Marcus Rashford appears undroppable after two goals against Wales, but who joins him and Harry Kane in England’s front three to play Senegal?
It was dubbed the Battle of Britain prior to kick-off but England versus Wales eventually turned into the Marcus Rashford show.
The Manchester United forward opened the scoring on the night with a ferocious free-kick and rounded off the game with a fizzing left-footed effort that Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward could do nothing about.
He is now England’s top scorer in Qatar with three strikes to his name following his goal in the 6-2 win over Iran. He is the in-form forward within the squad and he did more than enough against Wales to keep his place in Gareth Southgate’s starting XI for the round-of-16 match versus Senegal.
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The England manager has no real justification to drop Rashford following what could best be described as a statement showing in the final group stage match. The 25-year-old had the most shots (six) and the most shots on target (three), while no player on the pitch could better his three dribbles.
At this moment in time, he is undroppable. In knockout games, you need those with momentum on their side and Rashford has that in abundance right now. One of the questions that Southgate has to answer is where his No. 11 starts.
He was much more involved in the first half when he was deployed on the left side of a front three, as evidenced by his WhoScored heatmap above. But he did the most damage when on the right side of the attack having switched with Phil Foden after the break.
If Southgate wants to persist with the system he has used at the tournament so far, with the wide forwards hugging the touchline and the two box-to-box midfielders occupying the spaces between the front three, then it makes sense to use Rashford on the right. It gets him one-on-one with full-backs and allows him to attack space on the outside, something few players do these days.
You can see the shape above with the wide forwards responsible for holding the width. Then, Jude Bellingham and Jordan Henderson push up to support Harry Kane.
If Southgate does decide to start the versatile Manchester United attacker on the right then the next big question he needs to answer is who is the third forward for the game against Senegal?
Bukayo Saka impressed against Iran but seemed to struggle against the USA before dropping to the bench for the win over Wales. He is naturally left-footed so could play as more of a winger on that flank, holding the width and being comfortable on the outside.
But that doesn’t necessarily play to his strengths. The Arsenal forward appears to be much more of a threat when used on the right side.
Foden must fancy his chances of a start after netting against Wales. He looked considerably better after the break when he moved to the left, a position he regularly thrives in for Manchester City.
Only Rashford has a higher expected goals total, proving the 22-year-old is a genuine goal threat. Right now, Foden must be the favourite to partner Kane and Rashford.
But then there is Sterling. One of Southgate’s favourites and arguably England’s best player at the Euros, he has delivered for the Three Lions on countless times and can be relied upon. He hasn’t had the best tournament so far, though he does have one goal from the single shot he’s had in Qatar.
The Chelsea man isn’t in the best of form but at some point, he’s going to play his way out of that. It could be on Sunday.
Here is the thing though. The dynamic of the attack will be influenced by the third attacker, so Southgate has to get that right if everyone else is to have the impact he wants them to.
