World Cup 2018: 5 Things England Need To Improve To Beat Sweden

3. Defensive Concentration

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For the most part of this tournament, England have defended very well. However, silly mistakes at the back have let them down from time to time. Though the penalty awarded to Tunisia was harsh against England, the Panama goal was easily preventable, but the defence seemed to switch off.

This isn't so bad when you are 6-0 up (though Southgate will not see it this way), but this simply cannot happen at 1-0. Against Colombia, Kyle Walker got caught in possession on more than one occasion, most notably on the halfway line under very little pressure. This was a mistake that Juan Cuadrado really should have punished the Man City defender for.

During injury time, a breakdown in communication between Jesse Lingard and Jordan Henderson resulted in a cheap shot for Colombia out of nothing. Though this shot didn't hit the back of the net, thanks to one of the best saves of the tournament from Jordan Pickford, it did lead to the corner that gave the South Americans the equaliser.

These mistakes need to be stopped if England want to advance any further in the tournament, particularly if they are struggling to create opportunities to score goals themselves.

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