Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha has claimed that England's midfield gives them a vital advantage over a France side that is "lacking experience" ahead of their World Cup quarter-final on Saturday night.
The Three Lions know that a semi-final against one of Portugal or Morocco awaits them should they be able to beat France in their quarter-final. The reigning champions are without doubt England's toughest opponents so far, having beaten Senegal 3-0 in the round of 16 to set up the clash.
Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire have all been superb for their country, as the United trio look to repeat their 2018 campaign by reaching the final four once again.
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Much of the pre-match build-up has been focused on Kylian Mbappe, and rightly so, as England know that they will need to find a way to deal with the current Golden Boot winner should they want to get anything from the game.
Yet Saha has shone a light on an area of strength for Southgate's side, as the former United man highlighted the advantage that the Three Lions have in the middle of the pitch.
He told Paddy Power : “The midfield battle between France and England is massive. England especially have a very, very strong midfield and I’m very impressed by them. It’s the best midfield in the tournament.
“France have quality but they’re lacking experience, especially in the late stages of the competition. Adrien Rabiot is probably the most experienced one unless Antoine Griezmann drops deep.
“It’s going to be vital [the midfield battle], especially when you have a midfielder [Didier Deschamps] and a defender [Gareth Southgate] as coaches. It’s going to be very interesting to see how they cancel each other out.”
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