Assessing the crucial match-up when England host Brazil

 

While England’s meeting with Brazil may be one of mismatches across the pitch given the amount of withdrawals from the former and sheer quality at Tite’s disposal, there is one match up that is very close indeed.

In John Stones and Marquinhos, the respective managers boast two of the most promising centre-backs in international football, both of whom could have a key role to play on Tuesday.

There’s little doubt that the Manchester City defender is expected to be the busier of the two, potentially coming head-to-head with clubmate Gabriel Jesus, not to mention Neymar, but he’s been up to the task for club and country this season, that’s for sure.

The 23-year-old, just two weeks younger than his Brazilian counterpart here, has cut the errors that plagued his first season at the Etihad out of his game thus far this season to emerge as Pep Guardiola’s first choice centre-half.

While it’s Stones’ decision making that has improved markedly this season, his passing stats are frankly remarkable, misplacing just 28 in the league all season for an accuracy of 96.6%, which drops only slightly to 96.1% when factoring in the Champions League.

Indeed, the former Everton man’s performances amongst Europe’s elite this season have been hugely encouraging, earning the best WhoScored.com rating of any defender in the tournament thus far (8.18) having bagged three goals.

 

 


With a rating of 7.33 across the league and Champions League, Stones’ score is still marginally shy of that of Marquinhos (7.36), however.

Arguably now the first choice centre-back at PSG having had to make do with a bit part role or place out of position in the past, the young defender is another pass master from the back.

He boasts a pass accuracy of 95.2% across 12 Ligue 1 and Champions League appearances this season, and like Stones has the confidence to both play or carry the ball out from defence.

Neither look to dive into tackles or rush out to intercept, relying instead on their positioning and anticipation, and as such are two of the most comparable top centre-backs in the game.

While most will be keen to see plenty of goals following the 0-0 draw with Germany last Friday, the fine form of both Stones and Marquinhos could yet lead to another low scoring affair.

 

Assessing the crucial match-up when England host Brazil

 

England vs Brazil - Full match preview, probable lineups and prediction

Assessing the crucial match-up when England host Brazil