Spain have a midfield packed with talent with Ballon d’Or winners Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati the standout players.
But the biggest thing for England will be stopping supply to pivot midfielder Patri Guijarro, who links build-up play but is also happy to drop slightly deeper to get on the ball.
Bonmati and Putellas like to play like two 10s, in the pockets between midfield and defence.
England will have to stay compact enough that they limit space for Spain’s midfielders to operate in so they’re not in behind the Lionesses midfield but they have to drop in front of it to try and get on the ball – that will be key to stopping those passing lanes.
People are probably saying England will be happy to let Spain have the ball and dominate possession.
I don’t know if it’s a case of them being happy to allow that, it’s just that Spain are so good they will ultimately have the ball. Their whole strategy is to dominate possession and positional play.
I think England will be happier to play in transition and manager Sarina Wiegman has the profile of players at her disposal to play that way.
Looking at England’s other games, they have been the team that should dominate the ball and the game but, for whatever reason, that hasn’t come to fruition.
As we saw against Italy and Sweden, England struggled to unlock and break them down. The Netherlands was arguably the best game they have played in the competition but they have struggled to be that team that command the game.
Against Spain, it would suit England to be a threat in transition but every player has to focus on their role and responsibility to maintain concentration in those desperate defensive moments.
Germany had some very good chances to score in transition against Spain in their semi-final and didn’t take them, but they exposed areas of weakness in the world champions.
