Whatever we say about England needing to win, don’t forget how people in Uruguay feel about football.
They have lost to Costa Rica in the World Cup and pressure on them not to lose now is almost too much.
That can help England.
I think we all know the two very dangerous players for the South Americans – Luis Suarez, if he plays, and Edinson Cavani.
The English centre-halves Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka will have to coordinate very well.
The big opportunity in the game for England is created by Steven Gerrard.
One of the things that could happen is that Gerrard will drop off and try to play and create.
Uruguay seem to think he might do that because Suarez was talking about it the other day.
Uruguay will have to press Gerrard and if they go 4-4-2, like they did against Costa Rica, and don’t ask the strikers to worry about him then a midfielder will have to go higher to press him in the same way that Marco Verratti did for Italy.
That means England can find space behind that player which I think they can exploit, using some of the attacking players they have who can play well between the lines.
So yes, England will have to protect their centre-backs well if Uruguay play with two strikers.
But the big decision for Uruguay if they play with those two is whether to use one of them to manage Gerrard or use one of the midfielders, which brings a risk.
Once again, the captain who did so much for me at Liverpool is the tactical key.
I know the debate has been about Wayne Rooney and whether he should play in the middle or out wide.
If Roy Hodgson plays him on the wing then that is his decision.
But anyone knows that Rooney is dangerous in the middle because he is a proper striker – dynamic, doing unexpected things, showing vision, always dangerous.
If Uruguay press high, Rooney in the middle could be a very big threat and the key to the game.
People were criticising him for not always defending against Italy but I don’t see that Rooney plays in that way.
Uruguay have to change things around in their defence because they have Maxi Pereira suspended, while Diego Lugano has a knee injury.
When I look at the centre-backs – especially Diego Godin of Atletico Madrid – I don’t see players with the pace to control the England strikers.
We saw a different kind of England against Italy, with lots of belief and hunger when they were in possession and attacking.
The night is difficult to predict because there are a lot of uncertain things.
We don’t know how Suarez will be but Uruguay do not have a defence which should give England fears about their lower ranking in world football, 10th, to Uruguay’s seventh.
I don’t know Oscar Tabarez too well but he is a good manager with experience.
To achieve what he has achieved with a small country such as Uruguay means that he will be a part of the threat that England face.
He has always been flexible with tactics, changing situations in the game but this time he seems to know the two main strengths he has – the strikers.
England will have to be very, very focused.
Suarez is known as a player who is back at the top straight away when he has been missing games.
To put it very simply, England have more threats and more various threats than their opponents.
If they are focused when they need to be, there are plenty of reasons to be very confident tonight.
