England vs Belgium LIVE: Lionesses retain the Arnold Clark Cup with six-goal win
England 6-1 Belgium: The Lionesses lifted the Arnold Clark Cup for the second time after thrasing Belgium at Ashton Gate
England have won the Arnold Clark Cup for the second time after thrashing Belgium 6-1 in Bristol, giving the Lionesses the perfect start to their World Cup year under Sarina Wiegman.
Two goals each from Chloe Kelly and captain Leah Williamson helped to wrap up a dominant result in front of over 26,000 fans at Ashton Gate. The victory added to wins against South Korea and Italy this week as the Lionesses took maximum points from the four-team tournament and comfortably retained their title.
Wiegman’s side won the inaugural edition of the Arnold Clark Cup last year ahead of their historic victory at the European Championships, and the Lionesses will hope the tournament once again acts as the perfect platform before this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
England will face China, Denmark and Haiti in Group D of the World Cup, while the Lionesses will look to extend their unbeaten run under Wiegman - which now stands at 29 matches - when they take on Brazil and Australia in friendly matches in April.
Follow all the reaction as the Lionesses face Belgium for the Arnold Clark Cup:
England vs Belgium
Rachel Daly remained resolute she would “play anywhere” for England after another impressive audition for the permanent number nine role in the Lionesses’ 2-1 victory over Italy in the Arnold Clark Cup.
England extended their unbeaten streak to 28 games after Daly scored headers in either half to make it two wins from two for the hosts, who beat South Korea 4-0 in their tournament opener.
Daly plays up front for Aston Villa and is the Women’s Super League’s joint leading goal-scorer alongside Manchester City’s Bunny Shaw, netting 10 so far this season, but was employed at left-back throughout the Lionesses’ Euro 2022-winning campaign.
“I will always say I will play anywhere,” Daly told ITV. “I am happy to score but winning the game was in the forefront of my mind and that is what we needed to do and that is what we did and delivered and the team played brilliantly today.
“I think I am pretty good in the air. It probably helps when I am playing all over the place in different positions. For me, right place right time, fantastic ball from Lauren James for the second one and Robbo (Katie Robinson) the first one. I am here to score goals when I play up front, we got the win and that is the most important thing.
“That is what comes with the depth that we have in this squad. We have some unbelievable players in this team and every single one of them is capable of playing at any time and you saw that tonight.
“There were some amazing performances, there is plenty more to come. It keeps us on our toes. but the competition is so healthy and one that we all thrive in and want that challenge.”
England vs Belgium
Sarina Wiegman says she does not know what her best XI is as the Lionesses manager prepares to make further changes tonight against Belgium.
Wiegman has rotated her team throughout the Arnold Clark Cup so far and said ahead of tonight’s match: “It shows the team is really good and it’s hard to make decisions.
“We don’t really know the strongest XI at the moment but we don’t need to know yet.
“I think the depth in the squad is growing. What you see now is that it’s really hard to make decisions. We have such a big group that are able to play on that stage.
“We have more than 11 players who could start in the team. It’s not that they’re not good enough to start, it’s just technical choices we make.
“We don’t have to make that decision now. But it’s actually really exciting.”
England vs Belgium: Early team news
Kiera Walsh’s return to England’s line-up against Italy means that neither side have any injury concerns heading into Wednesday’s encounter.
Both sides have rotated heavily throughout the tournament but may well opt to put forward their strongest sides for this tournament-deciding encounter.
Predicted line-ups
England: Earps; Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Greenwood; Stanway, Walsh; James, Toone, Kelly; Russo
Belgium: Evrard; Cayman, Kees, De Neve, Meersman; De Caigny, Detruyer, Vanhaevermaet, Biesmans, Dhont; Wullaert
When is England vs Belgium?
The match will kick off at 7:45pm GMT on Wednesday 22 February at Ashton Gate
How can I watch it?
It will be shown live on ITV 4, with coverage starting at 7pm. It will also be available to watch online on the ITV X platform.
Good evening
Hello and welcome to live build-up to England vs Belgium - the final and deciding match of the Arnold Clark Cup. England are one step away from retaining the Arnold Clark Cup and take on Belgium in a winner-takes-all match that will determine which nation lifts the trophy. The Lionesses avoided a scare in their last match against Italy but a brace from Rachel Daly saw them claim a 2-1 victory and extend their unbeaten run under Sarina Wiegman to 28 matches.
Belgium have also won their opening two matches – both 2-1 against Italy and South Korea – and will want to cause an upset against the European Champions. The question now is whether Wiegman will revert to an almost full-strength line-up or continue to rotate and let her squad players compete in tonight’s crucial outing.
Follow all the action as the Lionesses face Belgium for the Arnold Clark Cup
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