William Saliba's early exit against Spain brought Maxence Lacroix into the game at centre back, and the Crystal Palace man looks set to start again here against England.

Lacroix finished that match with two fouls, despite missing the start. He repeated that feat in his only other start in the competition, recording two infringements against Norway in the final group stage match. 

Didier Deschamps likes his centre-backs to be aggressive in their duels and step forward to try and win the ball back quickly, rather than sitting back and absorbing pressure. Lacroix will have plenty of familiarity with the English attackers in the Premier League, so he will know just how difficult they can be to contain.

Ivan Toney could make his first start of the World Cup here, and he will certainly keep Lacroix busy.

Kouadio Kone only featured for the second half against Spain in the previous round, but he still managed to draw one foul in that cameo.

Prior to that, he landed this selection in both the Croatia and Morocco knockout matches, where he was fouled exactly twice in both of those games. Kone has been one of the most consistent players in the French squad when it comes to drawing fouls, and he is averaging 2.5 fouls drawn per 90 since the conclusion of Euro 2024. 

Playing for Roma, Kone averaged 1.83 fouls drawn per 90 in the 25/26 season, which shows how adept he is at using his body to absorb pressure and buy soft free-kicks.

England can be quite aggressive in their press in midfield areas, with the likes of Elliot Anderson and Jude Bellingham, making this a good matchup for Kone.

Nico O'Reilly's domestic numbers are not as impressive when it comes to drawing fouls, averaging just 0.53 fouls drawn per 90 across all competitions for Man City, but he has been a lot more consistent at the World Cup.

In fact, O’Reilly has been fouled in four of his five starts, and there is a chance that he starts in midfield here to replace Declan Rice. 

O’Reilly didn’t start against Spain last time out, but prior to that he was fouled in all three of England’s knockout matches. France are averaging 10.0 fouls per game at the World Cup, which isn’t particularly high, but this price of 1.67 for O’Reilly to be fouled looks too big, especially if he does feature centrally.