England’s key to victory against Wales tonight lies in the partnership of Harry Maguire and John Stones, suggests statistics.
The passing ability of the centre-back pairing has proved invaluable for the Three Lions in their first two games of the World Cup against Iran and USA.
Gareth Southgate will be hoping that this duo comes good for him again as his team looks to top Group B by beating Wales at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium.
In England’s emphatic opening 6-2 victory against Iran, Stones had a pass accuracy of 99% whilst Maguire had 89%, according to data website Whoscored.com.
Between the two they attempted 28 longballs – an impressive 23 of which were completed.
Whilst Southgate’s forward line failed to deliver the defence stood strong against a dangerous American attack and proved their ability on the ball again.
Stones had a 97% pass accuracy with Maguire on 88% – with the Manchester United defender putting in a match-saving eight clearances.
This trend should continue tonight with the lacklustre attacking options of Rob Page’s side.
In a disastrous 2-0 loss to Iran, Wales only managed three shots on target with just one coming from talisman Gareth Bale.
If Wales were to win tonight they would progress to the round of 16, whilst three points for England would leave them group winners facing the second place team in group A.
