Wiegman demands England goal rush
Sarina Wiegman expects England to impose their superiority on Latvia tonight and score “lots of goals” to record a fourth win from four games since her arrival as head coach in September.
The Lionesses’ World Cup qualifier against a side ranked 102nd will be played behind closed doors at the Daugava Stadium in Riga because of Covid-19 restrictions in the Baltic country.
Latvia have lost 14 games in a row, including a 4-1 defeat last time out at home to minnows North Macedonia, who in turn were hammered 8-0 by England in September, and Wiegman wants to see her team impress and build on Saturday’s 4-0 win over Northern Ireland.
“They won’t be as good as Northern Ireland, so we will definitely have the ball all the time,” Wiegman said. “The field [pitch] will not be as good as Wembley, but still we want to bring the same energy and bring the quality we brought on Saturday and hopefully score lots of goals and concede none. We’ve also [discussed] things about transition, so if we lose the ball, we just have to press the ball right away to regain it, and that’s going to be our game again tomorrow.”
Wiegman, who coached Holland to Euro 2017 glory, says she is highly encouraged by what she has seen on the training ground, adding: “The level of the sessions, the average level of our team is so high, and that’s so exciting to work with, just the [players’] willingness to add something to our game and how quickly we have taken this [concept of ] patience.”
Chelsea’s Fran Kirby is likely to earn her 50th cap tonight.