MY ACCOUNT
England can extend their unbeaten run to 31 games when they host Australia at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium on Tuesday night.
The friendly against the team ranked 10th in the world is the Lionesses’ last scheduled game with international competition before they kick off their World Cup campaign against Group D opponents Haiti in Brisbane on July 22.
Here, we look at some of the key talking points ahead of the showdown with the Matildas.
Who replaces Greenwood?
Alex Greenwood withdrew from Sarina Wiegman’s squad last Friday after taking a knock to the head during England’s Finalissima win over Brazil the night before.
Wiegman confirmed the Manchester City star, 29, left after feeling concussion symptoms and said the team “did not want to take any risks, we wanted to follow protocol, so she went back home”.
Greenwood’s injury follows that of fellow defender Millie Bright, who was also forced to withdraw, but Wiegman has Niamh Charles and Lotte-Wubben Moy vying to come in against Australia.
Options up front
While Wiegman does not expect to make many changes, we could see at least one up front.
Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly are still auditioning for the No9 role — previously occupied by the retired Ellen White — and Finalissima hardly made the decision any easier.
Russo started but Daly came off the bench in the second half and scored one of England’s four penalties as they secured glory in a dramatic shootout at Wembley.
With this potentially the final time England will test themselves against top competition before heading Down Under, it is possible Wiegman will want to get another look at what Aston Villa’s Daly — who trails Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw in the Women’s Super League scoring charts — can do.
Can Kerr stop the streak?
Australia striker Sam Kerr has scored 13 goals and picked up four assists across 24 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea this season.
No lead ever feels safe when the 29-year-old star is on the pitch, with Blues boss Emma Hayes singling out the forward’s steely focus as her “standout attribute”.
Injuries to Debinha and Marta meant the Lionesses avoided two of Brazil’s top attacking weapons as they extended their unbeaten run to 30 matches — but they are not likely to be so lucky this time.
Kerr was rested for Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Scotland, so she will be dangerously fresh and raring to go.
Coming down from Wembley high
As with Finalissima, the Lionesses have sold all available tickets for the match.
But Brentford’s home holds just 17,250 — 65,882 fewer people than the 83,132-strong crowd that packed Wembley for the victory over Brazil.
Yet the quick transition to a smaller stadium could be seen as a benefit before the World Cup, where their smallest group stage venue, Adelaide’s Coopers Stadium, holds 16,500.
