England face the Netherlands in their decisive match at Wembley tonight, where they hope they can still qualify for the Olympics, next summer
They need to beat the Netherlands today better than 2-1, and beat Scotland on Tuesday to have any hope of qualifying Team GB for the tournament.
England are without current Captain Millie Bright, meaning their ever consistent centre back pairing of Leah Williamson and Bright was once again absent. There have been questions around who would fill in the void and what England’s back line is going to look like.
There have been calls for Lotte Wubben-Moy to be named in the starting 11, after a strong start to the season for Arsenal. She currently has 10 England caps, her last coming in February against Belgium in the Arnold Clark Cup.
Mary Earps, who was named BBC Footballer of The Year on Tuesday, has been awarded the armband for the match.
Sarina Weigman has to get this decision right as without victory Team GB will miss out on the tournament for the second Olympics out of the last three. It would also mark the first major tournament that she would have failed to qualify for.
England have struggled to be clinical and take their chances in the Nations League so far, with only 34% of their shots registering on target. Their worst match being in the last break against Belgium, where only seven of their 23 shots were on target and only one was converted into a goal.
The return of Beth Mead to the England squad could be what they need to get more on the scoresheet. She scored her first goals since returning from injury for Arsenal on Sunday, and they will hope she can continue this form on Friday.
Speaking in the press conference on Tuesday she said, “I’ve worked hard – I’m super proud of myself and being able to get back into the fold and hopefully help the team at some point,”
Lauren Hemp, who will receive her 50th England cap, if played today, and Lauren James will both hope they can replicate their domestic form at Wembley
The dutch currently sit top of Group A, and victory today would ensure them qualification into the knockout stages, where coming third could get them to the Olympics. This would be as long as Olympic hosts France got to the final.
The visitors whose nickname is also the Lionesses, have no major names missing through injury. Viviane Miedema made her return to the pitch for them in the last round of fixtures, after recovering from an ACL injury that she sustained last November.