Some rarely-seen Chelsea players could pop up in the World Cup third-place game. Will Michy Batshuayi score a late winner for Belgium, or will Gary Cahill hold the line for England’s defence?
Belgium and England would have made a great World Cup final, but instead it will be the consolation game. Five Chelsea players could feature, but it all depends on how much the managers rotate. When these teams met in the dead rubber of the group stages they rotated heavily. Did that skew their karma? Who knows.
Scott Brant: Belgium 2 – 1 England. The Red Devils won’t leave empty handed. A third place finish is not what they came for, but will be what they’re leaving with. England had quite the World Cup run. They will still be licking their wounds as Belgium looks fresher and more interested.
Khaled Abdallah: 3 – 2. Both managers rotate their squads heavily and put out a mixture of veterans like Gary Cahill, Jamie Vardy, and Simon Mignolet to give them their World Cup swan song and also play a couple of the kids who have not had any playing time.
It should be an open and entertaining match with nothing really at stake and the scorelines from all but three of the third place matches show that. Since they started playing them in 1934, there have been three 1-0 matches and the rest have featured at least three goals. The only drama from this match would be tied to the Golden Boot. Harry Kane is on six goals and Romelu Lukaku is on four, but I don’t expect either to start so that might be a moot point.
Brendan McDonnell: 1 – 2. I mean, I don’t care, do you? Does Belgium? Does England? So, with this prediction I’m going with a rule I follow during NCAA Football Bowl Season… who cares more?
Belgium had visions of playing in the final, whereas England overachieved and are proud of their accomplishments. So who will actually feel a sense of accomplishment? England. I think Harry Kane scores another goal to increase his lead on the Golden Boot, making it a perfect 10/10 Tottenham.
George Perry could care less about the score. Only want to see Chelsea’s captain, leader, never-say-die centre-back Gary Cahill get a proper complete game in what will likely be his last appearance for the Three Lions. And that’s the full 90, not some stage-managed sub in the 24′. If Gareth Southgate gives him that, England to win. If not, let’s hope Belgium punish them 5-0, with Romelu Lukaku taking the Golden Boot and Marouane Fellaini scoring just for the insult of it all.
Travis Tyler: 0 – 1. Belgium won’t care but won’t rotate. England will care but will rotate. England wins from a set piece.
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Who will walk away with a meaningless third place finish? Which Chelsea players will have a role in this game? Let us know below or get after us on Twitter!