The records which make England favourites against Senegal at the World Cup round of 16

England will take on Senegal today with Gareth Southgate knowing very well that the African champions will provide a different test to the one they faced against Wales.

The Three Lions are one of the few unbeaten countries at the World Cup and Southgate has a lot of in-form players. A decision will have to be made on the likes of Marcus Rashford who produced his best England performance against Wales.

Phil Foden was also majestic and it would be quite brutal if he was to drop to the bench or Mason Mount who is one of the hardest working players for the Three Lions.

Senegal will be without their talisman Sadio Mane, who was ruled out of the competition, and Everton’s Idrissa Gueye is suspended for this one. There are also concerns over the health of manager Aliou Cisse, who has been ill and could not even make the training match day presser.

Ben White has returned to England for personal reasons but England have a full squad to call on apart from the Arsenal defender.

Why England are huge favourites against Senegal

England have never lost to an African nation in seven attempts at the World Cup; they have won four and drawn three. The last time England played an African team at the knockout stage was in 1990 when Gary Lineker scored twice and David Platt ensured the Lions won 3-2 against a Roger Milla-inspired Cameroon.

African teams have also lost eight of their last nine knock out games against European sides and there is no hiding from the fact Mane’s absence from the Senegal side has weakened their power up front.

This is only the second time Senegal have reached the knockout stage of the World Cup, the last time that they did was in 2002 and England is aiming to reach back to back quarter finals of the the World Cup for the first time since the 2002 and 2006 tournaments.

Jude Bellingham the star of the England team so far

Aged just 19, Jude Bellingham is tipped to be the next biggest star in the world and his time in Qatar has already proven to be quite a hit. His goal opened the campaign for England against Iran and when he went missing against the USA the team paid the price for it.

Then he kicked back into life against the Welsh and impressed, so a lot will depend on the kind of day he has against the Teranga Lions.