World Cup Forensics: Tunisia vs England

England's quest for a first World Cup win in 52 years begins tonight against a tough Tunisian outfit, as the two meet in their opening Group G game. A series of continued big tournament disappointments means low expectations for Gareth Southgate's men, and they will be keen to make a good start to Russia 2018.

What England's young squad lacks in experience they surely make up for in youthful endeavour and enthusiasm, with Southgate building upon a stingy defence and fast-paced attack to forge a clear identity of his team heading into the tournament.

Tunisia returns to the World Cup for the first time since 2006 after qualifying automatically from their section that included DR Congo, Libya and Guinea. They've never made it out of the Group Stage but will have hopes of causing an upset or two along the way in their Russian journey.

England will be sweating on the fitness of star young forward Marcus Rashford, but his presence in training since Friday indicates Southgate's men will be at full fitness heading into the clash.

Harry Kane is England's star man, and Captain's the side heading into the tournament. His incredible finishing is key to Southgate's tactical setup, and he'll be keen to deliver on expectations. He's overcome doubters to become one of the world's premier forwards and has a chance in Russia to seal his world-class status.

England has never lost against an African team at the World Cup with 3 wins and 3 draws, keeping five clean sheets in six games whilst their Tunisian opponents have also kept only one clean sheet in their 12 games at the World Cup.

Southgate's 5-at-the-back approach has paid dividends, as they've become one of the world's stingiest defences. They conceded only 3 goals in qualifying, and alongside Belgium, Germany and Spain were the only unbeaten teams in Europe.

Tunisia will look to tighten things at the back and frustrate England, the same way they did to Spain in a recent warm-up game. They'll be underestimated and want to give a good account of themselves.

This could be a tight, low-scoring clash but back England to get the job done and open their campaign with three points.

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