England v Norway: international women’s football friendly – live

Key events

Some recommended pre-game viewing:

The teams

England (4-3-3): Roebuck; Le Tissier, Bright, Greenwood, Charles; Walsh, Toone, James; Parris, Daly, Kelly.

Subs: Earps, Stanway, Zelem, Morgan, Salmon, Park, Russo, Robinson, MacIver, George.

Norway (4-3-3): Mikalsen; Bjelde, Bergsvand, Harviken, Sønstevold; Naalsund, Engen, Reiten; Eikeland, Haug, Haavi.

Subs from: Pettersen, Lund, Maanum, Blakstad, Thorisdóttir, Bøe Risa, Skoglund, Ildhusøy, Lindbak Hørte, Terland, Jøsendal, Sævik.

The England starting line-up is below, with Lauren James starting, Manchester United’s Maya Le Tissier making her debut in defence and Ellie Roebuck in goal. Beth Mead is not in the squad tonight, having flown home early for family reasons.

Preamble

England play their final fixture of 2022 tonight at the Pinatar Arena in southern Spain, wrapping up a calendar year that has surpassed all expectations. The Lionesses are still unbeaten under Sarina Wiegman, having won 16 and drawn three of their 19 games this year – a run that includes the historic home triumph at the summer’s Euros.

While the dramatic extra-time wins over Spain and then Germany in the final will linger for longer in the memory, it was the group-stage gubbing of Norway that first showed what this England team were capable of. The 8[EIGHT]-0 win sent shockwaves through the women’s game – not least in Norway, where coach Martin Sjödgren was swiftly shown the door.

His replacement is a familiar name to England fans – Hege Riise, the interim coach who began picking up the pieces after Phil Neville’s departure and also led Team GB at last year’s Olympics. Wiegman expects to face a much sturdier Norwegian defence tonight and may see this game as an opportunity for England’s emerging attacking talents to show what they can do. Kick-off is at 7pm (GMT), team news to follow.

source: theguardian.com