England coach Gareth Southgate is reportedly set to revert back to four defenders against Iran for their opening clash of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar on Monday.
Southgate has retained nine of the eleven, who started against Italy in last year's Euros final by adopting a 4-3-3 formation.
Harry Maguire returns
Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire is set to partner John Stones in the middle of defence with Kieran Trippier and Luke Shaw taking the roles of full backs.
In the midfield, Declan Rice will anchor the midfield with Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Dortmund's Jude Bellingham ahead of him.
Sterling to start
Raheem Sterling will play on the left-flank, while Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka might start ahead of Manchester City star Phil Foden.
Skipper Harry Kane will lead the attack while Jordan Pickford will start between the sticks.
England's playing XI
Goalkeeper: Jordan Pickford
Defenders
Harry Maguire
John Stones
Kieran Trippier
Luke Shaw
Midfielders
Declan Rice
Mason Mount
Jude Bellingham
Forwards
Raheem Sterling
Bukayo Saka
Harry Kane
Iran (playing XI): Iran: Beiranvand, Moharrami, Pouraliganji, Cheshmi, Majid Hosseini, Mohammadi, Noorollahi, Karimi, Hajsafi, Jahanbakhsh, Taremi
Subs: Khalilzadeh, Ezatolahi, Ansarifard, Amiri, Niazmand, Kanaani, Ghoddos, Torabi, Gholizadeh, Azmoun, Abedzadeh, Rezaeian, Seyed Hosseini, Jalali
