England v Belgium - Preview and possible lineups

It's time for everyone's least favourite World Cup match: the third-place playoffs.

Both England and Belgium narrowly missed out on places in the World Cup Final after losing 2-1 (AET) and 1-0 repectively.

The teams will now have to get their heads back in the game, following the heartbreak, as they look to win a third place medal.

The 'Three Lions' and the 'Red Devils' met in the group stages, with what saw as the 'B team' for both sides taking to the pitch.

Belgium came out winners in that encounter after Januzaj fired a worldie past Pickford.

Saturday's game will be a completely different affair, but should be a well matched contest.

Team news

Belgium

Belgium's first choice right-back Thomas Meunier is available again, after he missed the semi-final due to suspension.

His presence at the back was sorely missed for Belgium, who instead had to play Nacer Chadli out of position.

It's not yet clear whether Martinez will play exactly the same team that started against France, or whether he will bring in some changes, giving fringe players an opportunity.

Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku are both fit and ready to play, despite failing to create chances against France.

Both will be looking for improved performances against England.

England

Trippier could be a doubt for England after he limped off in the latter stages of the semi-final with a cramp induced nerve problem.

Trent Alexander-Arnold would be his likely replacement.

Many of the players who were part of the clash against Croatia will still be recovering from the extra 30 minutes, as well as the emotion of the loss.

This may tempt Southgate to make some changes to his squad.

Gary Cahill may start in what could well be his last ever World Cup tournament.

Loftus-Cheek, Delph and perhaps Butland may also be given the chance for some game time. 

Previous form

Southgate on what England need to bring to the game on Saturday

"We want to keep high standards right to the end and the players did that this morning in training. What we have to decide with the team is who can go again physically – it’ll be important."

"Sometimes it’s not always a good decision for people to play if their energy isn’t quite there and we’ve got to think about who can give us the best performance,” he said.

"It won’t be exactly the same starting XI, but we want ideally to make as few changes as possible. We’ve one or two injuries, one or two with a little bit of illness, so we just have to see."

"But we have high motivation to perform. We have the chance to win a medal at a World Cup, which only one other English team has ever done."

"So there’s a lot of motivation for us and of course Belgium have beaten us once already, so we’d like to redress that as well."

Martinez on Lukaku's contention for the Golden Boot

"We don’t look at that sort of reward and Romelu is the first to show that with his play. We had a moment against Japan where Romelu has the ball in the box, the last second of the game."

"Any striker that thinks he has 50 per cent chance of a goal takes that, but he made one of the best assists in the tournament."

"Other awards are more interesting to us. To be able to finish third, the best finish for the Belgian national team, would be an achievement we salute more than individual awards."

Possible lineups

England XI: Butland, Jones, Cahill, Maguire, Alexander-Arnold, Dier, Loftus-Cheek, Rose, Dele, Lingard, Vardy

Belgium XI: Courtois, Alderwiereld, Kompany, Boyata, Meunier, Fellaini, Witsel, Chadli, De Bruyne, Batshuayi, T. Hazard