England squad news 'leaks' for France World Cup clash as Three Lions look to stop Mbappe

England could name an unchanged starting XI to face France from the side that beat Senegal three times in the World Cup round of 16, it has been claimed. News of how the Three Lions could line up in the quarter-finals on Saturday night (7pm) has emerged with Gareth Southgate considering selecting the same XI, instead of moving to a back five.

England take on France in the Round of 16 of a major tournament for the first time. The reigning world champions have Golden Boot frontman Kylian Mbappe in their ranks, who has five goals in Qatar.

And the report that despite the threat of Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Olivier Giroud - who himself scored three goals in the Middle East - England are close to sticking to a four-man defender rather than giving themselves an extra defender with a defender at five.

The current setup has served the Southgate side well - and it's what they think is best to deal with the threat from Mbappe and co. They are one of four unbeaten teams in Qatar and have kept a clean sheet in their last four games while scoring 12 goals.

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And it is said that England will keep the faith with the same team that played against Senegal. This is partly thanks to the six-day break between matches which should keep the players cool despite the hot and humid conditions.

Harry Maguire and John Stones have started all four games of the tournament so far together at centre-half, with Kyle Walker being the starting right-back in the last two games after recovering from injury. He will face Mbappe directly. Luke Shaw was also ubiquitous at left-back, completing the full 90 minutes on three occasions.

Keeper Jordan Pickford leads the World Cup Golden Glove with Dutch trio Andries Noppert, Brazilian Alisson and Moroccan Yassine Bounou all behind. Whatever defense is in front of him, he will most certainly start in goal.

In midfield, Declan Rice was unstoppable and will keep his place. He missed training on Wednesday due to illness but the West Ham leader should be able to play this weekend.

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Jordan Henderson could once again be deployed alongside him against France. The Liverpool captain has started the last two matches against Wales and Senegal, both 3-0 wins, and scored in the latter game.

Jude Bellingham has been one of the best English players at the tournament and if Southgate names an unchanged squad, he will start again in a slightly more advanced midfield position. The three goals Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden, who scored against Wales, should go wide.

That would mean Marcus Rashford, despite scoring twice in the same game against Wales, would once again have to settle for a place on the bench. Captain Harry Kane will lead the line after breaking his duck in Doha last time out...