Vieira expects England to reach World Cup semis ‘at least’ with club team-mates swapping roles | OneFootball

Patrick Vieira expects England to reach the World Cup semi-finals “at least” and believes we’ll see more of one star in place of his club team-mate.

The Three Lions are one of the sides expected to do best at the World Cup. The most faith is in them, France, Spain and holders Argentina.

England showed in the first game, a 4-2 victory over Croatia, that they could have a great tournament, but were given a wake-up call when they failed to break down Ghana, drawing 0-0.

Vieira, who won the World Cup with France, expects England to go far, while he also sees a change between two club team-mates coming.

He said on The Rest is Football: “Look, England didn’t lose the game. After the first win we expected a bit more energy but you have to give credit to Ghana.

“They were well-organised, really difficult to play against and threatening on the counter-attack. There was a feeling after the game that this was a step back for England, but it’s not.

“I still believe England will be in the semi-finals at least and maybe the final because this is a really good side.

“They didn’t find the keys against Ghana but they will learn from it and the manager will come with solutions if they play another team like Ghana.

“If England play teams like this again there will be a different approach and maybe different players on the field.

“When Bukayo Saka was on the field at the end he brought something different to Noni Madueke. But overall I’m not worried about England’s performance.”

Saka v Madueke so far

In both of England’s games so far, Saka has been brought on off the bench, with Madueke starting. In the first game, he assisted a goal, and in the second, he earned a higher match rating that his Arsenal team-mate.

In just 18 minutes against Ghana, Saka had the same amount of shots as Madueke did in 83, and one of those forced a low save out of keeper Benjamin Asare.

He also had one more successful dribble in the game than his fellow wide man.

Saka is expected by many to begin to start when the tournament reaches the business end, with one of the only reasons he isn’t currently the fact he’s still been struggling with a minor problem.