Sports Mole previews Tuesday's Women's World Cup qualifying match between England and Luxembourg, including predictions, team news and lineups.

With a place at next year's World Cup already secured, England Women will look to wrap up their qualifying campaign with a win over Luxembourg Women.

The visitors, meanwhile, will be hoping to claim a positive result after losing their last three internationals.

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Match preview

After becoming the first men's or women's England side to lift a major trophy since 1966, the Lionesses returned to action on Saturday in a World Cup qualifier against Austria.

The away trip to Austria represented England's first match since the Euro 2022 final win over Germany at Wembley where they claimed a memorable 2-1 victory after 120 minutes of gripping football.

While the stakes may have been lower against Austria, the Lionesses still required at least a point from their final two qualifiers to reach the 2023 World Cup in Australia.

Alessia Russo scored four goals in the European Championships, and the Manchester United forward continued her goalscoring form at the weekend to give Sarina Wiegman's side an early lead before Nikita Parris wrapped up the 2-0 win in the second period.

Having scored 70 goals without conceding in World Cup qualifying, the Lionesses will be looking to finish their campaign with a 100% record as they look to extend their unbeaten record in all internationals to 22 games.

Meanwhile, the visitors enter the contest off the back of a three-game losing run, including a World Cup qualifying defeat at home to Northern Ireland on Friday.

Amy Thompson looked to have rescued a point for Luxembourg after cancelling out Sarah Robson's opener, but a late Rebecca Mckenna winner condemned the hosts to a 2-1 defeat.

The loss leaves Tuesday's visitors in fourth place ahead of North Macedonia and Latvia, but any hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are long gone, with Luxembourg 10 points adrift of the playoff places.

Although they cannot improve on their current position, Luxembourg will be looking for a closer contest than the one that they experienced against England in the reverse fixture.

When the two sides met in September 2021, England cruised to a 10-0 victory that featured three goals in stoppage time, and the visitors will be wary that they could be in for another long evening on Tuesday.

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Team News

England are no longer able to call upon Ellen White and Jill Scott after the pair retired from football following the European Championship triumph.

Chloe Kelly and Fran Kirby were not included in the squad due to injury issues, while Wiegman could make changes to the side with qualification now secured.

The England boss may give a number of fringe players a chance to impress, including the likes of Ellie Roebuck, Beth England, Lauren James, and Jordan Nobbs.

As for Luxembourg, they will be without the services of Thompson who scored in the 2-1 defeat to Northern Ireland on Friday.

The 28-year-old was sent off following two yellow cards, and as a result, she will be suspended for Tuesday's contest, which could present Joana Lourenco with a starting place.

Luxembourg may also be tempted to switch to a back five rather than a four in a bid to prevent another heavy defeat to England.

England Women possible starting lineup:
Roebuck; Daly, Carter, Williamson, Stokes; Nobbs, Zelem; James, Toone, Parris; England

Luxembourg Women possible starting lineup:
Schlime; Dos Santos, Becker, Have, Kremer, Tiberi; Jorge, Miller, Soares Marques, J. Lourenco; Estevez Garcia

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We say: England Women 7-0 Luxembourg Women

Although England may not reach double figures like they did in the reverse fixture, we still expect them to clinch a comfortable victory over Luxembourg on Tuesday.

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