Match Preview & Predicted Lineups: England vs Uruguay

Uruguay v England
Arena Corinthians, Sao Paulo
Kick-off: 12.30 am Sri Lankan Time

Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain).

On Thursday, England face Uruguay in a must win game for both teams. After suffering a defeat in their opening group stage game against Italy, England will need to win to give them any chance of qualifying from Group D. Despite the loss, Roy Hodgson’s men gave a good performance in Manaus, but it was the Italian team that was more experienced on the world scene. After going 1-0 up in their game against Costa Rica, the Uruguayan’s suffered a shock 3-1 defeat. They too will need to win this game in order to give them a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages. The current Copa America holders were some people’s dark horse for this tournament, but poor defending was their undoing last Saturday and they will need to rectify that for Thursday’s game.

Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge are both suffering with minor knocks following the loss to Italy, but the Liverpool duo are expected to be available.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, though, is unlikely to feature.

Luis Suárez had been a doubt for Uruguay after undergoing knee surgery before the start of the tournament, but the striker has confirmed that he is "100 per cent fit" for the game.

So, lose and England could fail to qualify for the second stage for the first time since 1958.

Despite defeat by Italy, optimism both within the camp and at home, remains high.

But as Uruguay also lost their opening game, the pressure is on both sides.

Having been undone by a former Premier League striker, Mario Balotelli, in the Italy game, could England bare the pain of being pushed closer to home by the man both the players and journalists voted as their footballer of the year? 

The last time the two teams met in a fixture was March 2006 in a friendly. England came out on top in that fixture winning 2-1. There has been much change in both squads since that fixture. England only have two players remaining in their squad who appeared in the fixture: Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. The Uruguayan’s squad still contains Diego Godin, Diego Lugano, Diego Forlan and Maxi Pereira, who is suspended for the fixture this time round. The teams last met in a World Cup in 1966 where they played out a 0-0 draw. England famously went on to win the tournament that year. Uruguay have won the World Cup twice, one of which was when the tournament was held in Brazil in 1950.

Uruguay (Possible, 4-2-3-1): Muslera; Caceres, Lugano, Godin, Pereira; Gargano, Arevalo; Rodriguez, Forlan, Suárez; Cavani.

England (Possible, 4-2-3-1): Hart; Johnson, Jagielka, Cahill, Baines; Gerrard, Wilshere; Welbeck, Rooney, Sterling; Sturridge.