England captain and goal-machine Harry Kane is not playing.
Full disclosure: I got it wrong.
I thought Southgate would rest four but pick a team to beat Belgium’s reserves and maintain momentum.
Belgian boss Roberto Martinez has a very special group. They have loads of talent and experience in their squad,so they walked their first two games against weak opponents.
Now he’s decided to rest 9 stars so they can lose and finish second in Group 5 and play in the soft half of the draw.
It’s very continental but I did not believe that Southgate would copy them, after all he has said.
England: Pickford, Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Cahill, Jones, Rose, Dier, Delph, Loftus-Cheek, Rashford, Vardy.
Belgium: Courtois, Dendoncker, Boyata, Vermaelen, Chadli, Dembélé, Fellaini, Tielemans, T. Hazard, Januzaj, Batshuayi.
No Eden Hazard. But one of his brothers is playing.
Thorgan Hazard is a 25-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for Borussia Monchengladbach. He’s scored 20 goals in 85 appearances for them.
Manchester United monster Romelu Lukaku, like Kane, will not start in Kaliningrad in tonights 7pm kick-off
Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois and Dedryck Boyata are the starters from the team that beat Tunisia 5-2.
In come 23-year-old Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht) and 32-year-old Thomas Vermaelen (not playing much at Barca).
Also starting are Mousa Dembele (Spurs) Marouane Fellaini (Man United) and Nacer Chadli, the former Spurs midfielder.
Youri Tielemans (Monaco ) is the youngest Belgian to ever play in the Champions league and the two other forwards are Adnan Januzaj and Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea).
Southgate has made eight changes, retaining only John Stones, Jordan Pickford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek from the starting eleven that thrashed Panama 6-1.
http://arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/wp/as-dire-germans-crash-out-brazil-are-starting-to-look-much-more-brazilian/