Marcus Rashford believes Jadon Sancho’s familiarity with many of the German players could be of benefit to England on Tuesday night.
England face their old rivals at Wembley with a spot in the last eight of European Championship on offer.
Germany are in a transitional phase with Joachim Low leaving his post as manager once their tournament ends.
They have not looked like the teams of old and England go into the game as favourites, even if they themselves have been underwhelming so far.
Gareth Southgate is yet to unlock the team’s attacking potential with Sancho’s minor role seen as a surprise by many.
The Dortmund winger, who looks set to join Rashford at Manchester United this summer, registered 16 goals and 19 assists in last campaign’s Bundesliga.
And now Rashford is hoping the player can be a major asset against players he’s had success against previously in the German league.
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“In a way yeah because he’s played a lot of football against them, more than the rest of us,” he told ESPN.
“I’m sure he knows the players, their characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and he’s definitely someone that can exploit them. If one thing doesn’t quite work we have a big opportunity to change things and adapt in the game.
“Adaptability is one of the biggest skills in football and there’s a lot of times in a game where you have to change or tweak something slightly to hurt your opponents.”