England vs Argentina Predictions

• Both teams have scored in four of England’s six World Cup matches
• Both teams have scored in six of Argentina’s last seven World Cup knockout matches
• Julian Alvarez has scored three goals in his last two semi-final appearances for Argentina

Stars came up trumps in quarters

A semi-final clash which seemed a tantalising prospect a month ago brings England and Argentina together again in Atlanta on Wednesday evening. Both nations squeezed past tricky opponents in the last eight with a bit of luck and some extra-time genius.

For Argentina, it was Julian Alvarez’s moment to step into the spotlight as he curled home a beauty from outside the box to put the reigning champions 2-1 up against 10-man Switzerland with eight minutes left.

Another lion-hearted performance from Jude Bellingham got England over the line in stifling conditions against Norway in Miami with his second goal of the clash deciding the quarter-final.

Albiceleste’s set-piece threat 

Each victory can be filed in the ‘Somehow found a way to win’ category as neither performance was particularly convincing with England coach Thomas Tuchel admitting his men were sloppy and ‘not fast enough’.

They dominated the first 22 minutes without ever looking like scoring and were punished for some slack defending, which has become a recurring theme for them in this tournament.

Defending set pieces, which haunted them against Mexico, again appeared to be a major problem and that will be a concern ahead of a clash against an Argentine side that again scored from a corner. Alexis McAllister’s header from a pin-point Lionel Messi delivery was their fourth set-piece strike of the tournament, one more than England have managed.

Alvarez has semi-final form

The Albiceleste have been reliant on individuals to bail them out in difficult moments with Alvarez’s masterpiece just another example of a hero emerging at the nation’s hour of need.

Messi was not at his brilliant best against the Swiss, perhaps because he had to pull out all the stops to get them past Egypt, and so Alvarez may present the greater danger to England now he has broken a five-game international scoring drought.

The Atletico Madrid ace bagged twice in the 2022 World Cup semi-final and got round the back of the Canada defence to put Argentina ahead in the last four of the 2024 Copa America.
Bellingham increasingly appears to be the England player to fear the most with Harry Kane looking like he may have peaked in the round of 16 against DR Congo.

Both teams should score in Atlanta

England’s wing play was sub-par again, although Anthony Gordon registered another assist before running out of gas and their dwindling end product must be a concern.

However, Argentina have conceded in their last four games and things could have been worse for them had Breel Embolo not seen red after a controversial VAR review for ‘mistaken identity’.

Both teams to score seems the most logical play because of the current state of each team’s defence and the individual brilliance within their ranks. And a final score of 1-1 could well be on the cards if the physical and mental fatigue of the six previous matches catches up with them in the final quarter.