England vs Germany: 5 Key Tactical Battles That Could Decide The Game

4. Steven Gerrard and Tom Cleverley vs Mario Gotze and Toni Kroos

The middle of the park duel is full of questions. Can Gotze deliver on the international stage after struggling at Bayern since his big money move? Can Gerrard stop Kroos from breaking forward and supplementing the attack? Then there's Cleverley. What does he do?

David Moyes has largely kept Cleverley in the Man United midfield alongside Michael Carrick despite spending £27.5 million on bringing Marouane Fellaini with him from Everton. He has not scored nor made any assist from this club berth. A recent bout of double vision prevented Cleverley from playing in the Red Devils' Champions League trip to San Sebastian against Real Sociedad. Hodgson selecting him here suggests the England boss is fully assessing his midfield options fully. Cleverley only got 20 minutes against Chile and neither he nor Jordan Henderson made much of an impact. Gotze and Kroos have not been amongst the goals in Munich this season. Pep Guardiola has so many midfield options at his disposal at the Allianz Arena that the burden has fallen elsewhere. Injury to Sami Khedira has opened up a spot in the Germany XI, but we'll come onto that...