England and Costa Rica go head to head in a Pre World Cup friendly

England and Costa Rica are set to play each other in an international friendly on Thursday night as both teams warm-up ahead of the world cup. England go into this game as the favorites.

Kick-off : 8:00 PM (Local)

Venue : Elland Road, Leeds

England are warming up ahead of the world cup and they did well in their last friendly by defeating Nigeria 2-1. Gary Cahill and Harry Kane were the goalscorers. They will look to do the same against Costa Rica.

The world cup is just a week away and the Three Lions will kick-start their campaign by taking on Tunisia on the 18th of June. England are amongst the favorites and expected to do well with their host of Premier League players.

On the other hand, Costa Rica too are warming up ahead of the world cup and have lined up three international friendlies. In the first one they defeated Northern Ireland 3-0 and now will be hoping for success against previous world cup winners England. Next the Ticos play Belgium on the 11th.

Costa Rica will be looking to build upon their quarter-final finish in the 2014 world cup. Costa Rica play their first world cup game against Serbia on the 17th.

Both England and Costa Rica have played each other just once before and the game ended in a draw.

Team news and possible line-ups

Bryan Ruiz, Rodney Wallace and Marco Urena are all available for Costa Rica for the midweek game and will likely play.

As for England, Jordan Henderson after being rested in the last game against Nigeria is likely to play against Costa Rica. While Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy are both available and might play.

Costa Rica XI : Navas, Gamboa, Acosta, Gonzalez, Duarte, Oviedo, Borges, Guzman, Campbell, Colindres, Ruiz.

England XI : Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Alexander-Arnold, Rose, Dier, Henderson, Alli, Sterling, Kane.

Prediction

I expect England to edge Costa Rica 2-1.