da betsson： The European champions now have a must-win game against the Netherlands at Wembley in December – should Rachel Daly be leading the attack for it?
da imperador bet： England might be the reigning European champions, and they might have reached this year's Women's World Cup final, but the chances of them winning the first edition of the UEFA Women's Nations League or securing Great Britain's place at next year's Olympic football tournament are suddenly in serious doubt after a shock defeat to Belgium.
The Lionesses appeared to be on track to getting over the defeat to the Netherlands that they ended their September international break with when they beat the Red Flames 1-0 in Leicester last Friday. However, the return trip to Leuven just four days later saw Sarina Wiegman's side produce a defensive horror show fitting for Halloween night, one that ended in a 3-2 loss that looks extremely likely to come back and, well, haunt them.
England will host the Netherlands at Wembley in December knowing that they absolutely have to win – and by at least a two-goal margin – to keep their Nations League and Olympic dreams alive. Even if they can achieve that, they still need other results to go their way, too.
What on earth happened in October that put the Lionesses in this precarious position? GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from what was a difficult international break for Wiegman's side…
GettyLOSER: Alessia Russo
Alessia Russo is a fantastic footballer, there's no doubt about that, and she has come up with some extremely big goals for her country this year alone, but it's difficult to overlook her lack of clinical touch during this October window.
No player had more shots across these two games than the Arsenal forward, but somehow she just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net, with two huge chances in particular going begging in England's crucial defeat to Belgium on Tuesday.
The difficult position the Lionesses find themselves in is not on Russo, let's make that clear. After all, they still managed to win Friday's game and it was the goals conceded in the second fixture against the Red Flames that really cost them, with all three extremely poor in their own way.
But Wiegman has stressed the importance of being more clinical throughout this past week and Russo was one of those most culpable over these two games in that sense. If she catches fire for Arsenal between now and that do-or-die clash with the Netherlands in December, she may still retain her status as the focal point of England's attack, but if not, Wiegman will surely be thinking about whether Rachel Daly deserves a chance to start.
AdvertisementGettyWINNER: Fran Kirby
A whole 381 days after her last appearance for her country, Fran Kirby made her long-awaited England return during this October camp, with the sight of her entering the game in Leicester on Friday night a welcome one for any football fan.
Kirby is one of the Lionesses' most talented stars, with her creativity and eye for goal marking her out as a nightmare for defenders all over the globe for several years now. But injuries plagued her 2022-23 season and sadly ruled her out of the Women's World Cup in the summer, too.
She's back now, though, and she provides England with a huge boost with her world-class quality. That much was abundantly clear as she scored her first goal in eight months in the Lionesses' defeat to Belgium on Tuesday.
The result didn't go her team's way, but Kirby certainly showed what she can bring to the table with a fantastic strike that will have meant so much.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Alex Greenwood
Perhaps England should have known things weren't going to go their way on Tuesday when, early in the first half, Alex Greenwood spent 13 minutes receiving medical attention before being stretchered off following a nasty clash of heads with Belgium's Jassina Blom. To lose a player who has been one of their absolute best over the past 12 months was a big blow, and it was relieving to hear that the Manchester City star was conscious and talking as soon as the half-time interval.
Club and country will hope that the injury is not as serious as it appeared, such is Greenwood's importance to both, and that will apply to the player herself, too, who is enjoying the best form of her career at the moment.
As the quicker of England's centre-back options, the Lionesses certainly suffered without Greenwood for the remainder of the game, with Belgium able to slice them open on the counter as a result of the comparative lack of pace of Millie Bright and Jess Carter, most notably when scoring their second goal of the night.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Sarina Wiegman
It's fair to say that Wiegman has a few problems to solve before England welcome the Netherlands, her home country, to Wembley on December 1, then. The Lionesses simply must win that fixture or not only are their chances of winning the UEFA Women's Nations League title over – their hopes of securing qualification to the Olympic football tournament for Great Britain are too.
Inevitably, questions have been asked about the formation off the back of these two games, in which England started in a 4-3-3 for the first time since the World Cup group stages. Would it be more beneficial to return to the 3-5-2 that got them to that tournament's final instead? Would a back three have been exposed in this same way on the counter? Would the 3-5-2 system have got more bodies in the box to put chances away? What formation will be best against a Netherlands side that excels with a three-player defence? These are questions that Wiegman will spend the next month thinking about.
The Dutchwoman asserted herself as the best coach in the world with her tweaks during the World Cup and that top-level decision-making will be needed again to rescue England from a situation that seemed unthinkable off the back of such an incredible month in Australia.