Japan Women vs England Women. SheBelieves Cup.
Raymond James Stadium.
Tuesday 5 March 2019 21:27, UK
England Women take on Japan Women in a winner-takes-all clash in their final game of the SheBelieves Cup on Tuesday (kick-off 10.25pm GMT).
The Lionesses will win the tournament if they beat Japan, who are top on goal difference, at the 65,000-capacity Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
However, their opponents will top the table with a win of their own. There is a possibility for the USA to triumph if they beat Brazil in the second game of the night, improve their goal difference, and hope England and Japan have played out a draw.
Boss Phil Neville thinks this will be England's hardest test, saying: "I think it will be our toughest game. I think they've been the best team in the competition so far. They've got a brilliant system, technical players and they've been a real surprise in terms of the quality.
"They were a team in the Tournament of Nations that I thought were a little bit wide open and looked like you could get at them, but they've obviously been working really hard on the shape, the compactness. They're technical players that never give the ball away."
Goalkeeper Carly Telford, who started against Brazil before being dropped for Karen Bardsley, will return against Japan as Neville has confirmed he will make five or six changes as he evaluates his squad ahead of the World Cup.
