Dark horse meets dark horse in Kaliningrad, but both England and Belgium have already bolted into the knockout rounds.
Consequently this clash is likely to lack the razor-edge intensity that so many of these players revel in when on Premier League duty, yet there are still plenty of intriguing plot threads to follow.
FIRST IS WORST?
Bench press: Romelu Lukaku is unlikely to feature.
Firstly – do either side really want to claim the top spot in this group? It is presumptuous to look beyond the round of 16, but a huge threat in the World Cup’s most successful nation looms large in the quarter-finals.
A shocking 2-0 defeat to South Korea in their final group fixture has seen a disappointing Germany side remove themselves from the equation but with Brazil finishing as winners in Group E, that presents a dilemma for England and Belgium.
Should England and Belgium play out a draw it will come down to ‘fair play’ points based on the amount of bookings and red cards received – with the Three Lions currently leading that particular statline by one.
Will Roberto Martinez and Gareth Southgate be tempted to order their fringe players to deal out a little hack-and-slash in the latter stages? It seems a needless exercise given the permutations.
“For our country, that would be a very difficult mindset to have,” Southgate explained when asked whether he is tempted to rein in his team.
“We want to win every game of football we go into. I don’t know how we would go into a game not wanting to win and not wanting to play well.”
Avoiding top spot could mean the dubious prize of facing Colombia in the next round. James Rodriguez’s side are quite clearly the pick of Group H after shredding Poland 3-0, but may not reach the summit given their 10-man defeat to Japan.
DRESS TO IMPRESS
Chance to shine: Marcus Rashford.
The other reason why there is unlikely to be any obvious shenanigans on Thursday are the fresh and frustrated legs due to take the field.
No sooner had Belgium finished thumping Tunisia in in Moscow on Saturday, Martinez indicated he would be giving some R&R to his key men such as Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.
Southgate has, meanwhile, spoken about the need to fortify team spirit by giving minutes to those who have been bored bench-warmers so far. The former defender knows the feeling too well, having spoken of his ennui when he failed to a play a single second as an England squad member at the 2002 World Cup.
There are selection debates to be settled, too. Southgate would lend serious thought to starting Marcus Rashford over Raheem Sterling alongside Harry Kane should the Manchester United man twist Belgium out of shape.
Eric Dier played a key role in qualification and will also need to be seasoned if the England boss elects to shore up his midfield and play a No4 alongside an in-form Jordan Henderson.
Mousa Dembele, so brilliant for Tottenham in long stretches last season, will be a Belgian to look out for and Vincent Kompany is ‘medically fully fit’ to stick his hand up at the back.
DEFENCE THE FIRST LINE OF ATTACK
Floored: Kyle Walker.
Neither of these defences have been severely tested in Russia, though there have been some flaws in their desultory examinations so far.
Kyle Walker’s unwitting forearm smash that led to Tunisia’s equaliser sparked questions over his positional awareness as a centre-back – facing the goal and not having a clue where the incoming attacker was, a mistake that Rio Ferdinand judged ‘criminal’.
Belgium were also ruffled by Tunisia at set-pieces and on the flanks, with Yannick Carrasco and Thomas Meunier two superb attacking outlets that don’t give too many thoughts to the defence.
It’ll be more informational from a system perspective than personnel-wise given the expected raft of changes, as neither side will drift too far away from their established norms in the knockouts. England’s high-octane 3-1-4-2 against Belgium’s bold 3-4-3 will certainly inject some life into this dead rubber.
