England boss Wiegman still unsure of best XI ahead of Belgium clash | OneFootball

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·21 February 2023

England boss Wiegman still unsure of best XI ahead of Belgium clash

Article image:England boss Wiegman still unsure of best XI ahead of Belgium clash

England boss Sarina Wiegman says that there could be some more changes to her squad ahead of the Lionesses’ final Arnold Clark Cup fixture against Belgium in Bristol on Wednesday evening.

It is a case of ‘winner takes all’ at Ashton Gate; the victor of this head-to-head will determine which nation lifts the Arnold Clark Cup, as both are currently equal on points.

England boss Wiegman has rotated a lot across her side’s first two matches, making nine changes to the starting XI for Sunday’s game against Italy in Coventry. When speaking to the media in her latest press conference, Wiegman said that she does not yet know her best XI.


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“We don’t really know what the strongest XI are at this moment,” she said. “We don’t have to know it yet, but it shows that our team is really good and it’s hard to make decisions.

“With the starting line-up, we have more than 11 players that really could start in the team, so it’s not that someone’s not good enough to start, it’s just the tactical choice we’re going make.”

The current England squad is the penultimate selection ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 and the Arnold Clark Cup is an important stage in England’s preparation for the next major tournament. Latest opponents Belgium narrowly missed out on qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 but they’ve been impressive so far, winning both of their Arnold Clark Cup matches 2-1. They currently occupy 20th place in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings, compared to England’s fourth-place spot.

“I think Belgium are aware of us, we played them before the EUROs and with some of the players injured, they probably will play really compact and make space really small,” Wiegman said. “They play a recognisable style of play; it’s organised, they have some very good players.

“We talked about it with our team, with the players, and we’ll find ways to break those lines, get behind them and create chances. I think especially South Korea played very deep and I think we found pretty good ways to break their lines and to create chances.”

A draw would be enough to see Arnold Clark Cup holders England take the trophy for a second time as a result of their superior goal difference. The tournament has consisted of three matches in just six days, providing a very condensed schedule for the current European champions.

“We, of course, want to win the tournament,” Wiegman said. “We are going to also manage the load a little bit.

“We want to take care of players as good as possible, so we want to compete, but we also want to manage the load. We want to make the risk of injuries as low as possible and that’s why we manage the load.

“The squad’s good, so everyone will be on the pitch this morning. Everyone’s playable and you can expect some change tomorrow compared to Sunday.”

England’s final match of the 2023 Arnold Clark Cup against Belgium kicks-off at 7.45pm on Wednesday evening.

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