France is advised to go for Maguire

In a commentary dated December 6, L'Équipe considered speed and mutant ability - France's strong point with Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele - as the key to solving the game, not the ability to hold the ball. , controlling the game is the strong point of England.

The French sports daily then suggested that the home team focus on carving out Harry Maguire's position when encountering at Al Bayt on December 10. Maguire's slowness could be detrimental to England's defence, although manager Gareth Southgate can strengthen by ditching the 4-3-3 for a 3-4-3 as he usually does. do when facing a strong team, "said L'Équipe.

Before the 2022 World Cup, Southgate's summoning of Maguire created mixed reactions. The English midfielder suffered many injuries, declined in form and lost his official position at Man Utd last season. However, according to Southgate, the inclusion of Maguire in the list of 26 players to Qatar is because of international experience.

However, according to Sunsport, Maguire has responded to doubts with impressive performances from the start of the tournament. When the 1.94-meter-tall central defender was on the field, England only conceded a goal in the opening match against Iran. This match, Maguire was not in the best shape, but still started and made way for Eric Dier from the 70th minute.

Not only defending, Maguire also left a mark when he joined the attack. Man Utd's player 6 times on target and 1 assist for Bukayo Saka in the 6-2 victory over Iran.

Maguire also leads many important statistics, out of 215 defenders competing at the 2022 World Cup. He is in the top 20% of players with successful tackles (3), interceptions (3) and top 10 % with 14 saves, 8 of which were headers.

In terms of attack, Maguire is the defender who touches the ball the most in the opponent's box (11), and is also in the top 5 for the number of shots (4) and successful passes (276).

Before the encounter at Al Bayt on December 10, France and England had not met in the World Cup since 1982, where the team won 3-1 in the group stage. Through 31 confrontations in history, England are also dominant with 17 wins, 5 draws and only 9 defeats to France. In the last clash - a friendly match on June 13, 2017, France beat England 3-2 at the Stade de France thanks to the top performance of Kylian Mbappé, Paul Pogba and Ousmane Dembélé.