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Frank Lampard Picks His Starting XI For England's World Cup Opener

Frank Lampard Picks His Starting XI For England's World Cup Opener

The former England midfielder wants the Three Lions to attack Tunisia in their Group G opener on Monday night.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

England kick off their World Cup campaign on Monday evening against Tunisia and one man who has been there and failed with the Three Lions, Frank Lampard, has chosen his preferred starting lineup.

Four days into the World Cup and we've seen Germany lose, Spain, Argentina and Brazil draw and France fail to live up to expectations despite a win against Australia. All before England play their first game.

Of course with all those slip ups and the Three Lions about to start their campaign to finally be able to talk about something else other than 1966 belief is starting to build.

That's as much a bad thing as it is a good thing with the usual unreasoned belief having previously not been there so no one, until now, has been fooled into thinking this might just be our year.

Of course back when England had the 'Golden Generation' the belief was always that were were about to win whichever competition we were entering, only to lose in the quarter finals.

One man who knows all about that too well is Frank Lampard who helped form the Golden Generations most misfiring area, central midfield, and he's picked his starting XI for the Tunisia game.

Lampard's starting XI. Image: BBC Sport
Lampard's starting XI. Image: BBC Sport

Explaining his tactics to BBC Sport the new Derby manager said, "England must find a way through Tunisia's defensive block to start their World Cup with a win, and Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard will have a key role in making that happen.

"I am expecting Tunisia's tactics in Volgograd on Monday to be the same as in their friendly against Spain last week, when they only lost 1-0 to a late goal.

"They will have 10 men behind the ball, in a 4-5-1 shape, and England's task is to find an attacking formation that can break them down."

Will Southgate get it right in Russia? Image: PA Images
Will Southgate get it right in Russia? Image: PA Images

The initial thoughts were that England would play with two holding midfielders, in the form of Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson, but Southgate said recently he would likely only play with one.

That may change later in the tournament but for now it seems a much better idea to start with bothe Alli and Lingard to provide more creativity. There is no point in the England team dying wondering.

How far will England get in Russia?

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Topics: Frank Lampard, Football News, World Cup news, England, World Cup