Stephen Warnock has warned that Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe and Crystal Palace flyer, Wilfried Zaha, will cause England ‘a lot of problems’ if they deploy a three at the back system at Wembley on Tuesday night.
Albeit a friendly encounter, the Ivory Coast will lock horns with England at Wembley, with plenty of Premier League faces set to feature for the away side.
That includes Arsenal’s back-up winger Pepe, who despite his struggles on the domestic stage, found his magic against France last time out.
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Now, the 26-year-old will be hoping to do it against more familiar opposition, alongside someone like Zaha, who did represent the Three Lions during the younger age groups.
Nonetheless, ahead of that game, former left-back, Warnock, lauded the qualities in the Ivory Coast camp, as he told the Football Show on Sky Sports.
“They went toe-to-toe with France in the last game,” said Warnock. “The fact that France needed a late goal tells you everything you need to know about them.
“But you look at the forward line alone. Pepe, Haller and Zaha. Then behind them, you have Kessie, who is an unbelievable player. At the back, they have Eric Bailly, Willy Boly and Serge Aurier.
“They have huge, huge experience of playing European football, so they are very well-coached players who understand the game very well.
“If England play with wing-backs that will allow Pepe and Zaha, if they play to get into them areas and cause a lot of problems, so this is an exciting game because the Ivory Coast will test them in many ways.”
Even though this is a friendly match on paper, it’s certainly won’t be played in that manner because the duo don’t often get to compete against one another.
Whilst Switzerland were more resilient and compact against England over the weekend, there will be a more forward and all-action approach from the Ivory Coast.
They made life difficult for the world champions in Paris and they will now be hoping to do the same to England in London.
This is also a chance for someone like Pepe to shine on a big stage because he hasn’t had that many standout moments since his club-record transfer to Arsenal.
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