England have gone to great lengths to try to ensure their preparations for their World Cup opponents remain secret but pictures of a note bearing a hand-written lineup held by Holland at England’s training base in Repino on Thursday suggested Rashford, rather than Sterling, will start up front alongside Harry Kane while Ruben Loftus-Cheek comes in for the injured Dele Alli in midfield.
Sterling’s starting place has been the subject of debate after he produced a below-par performance in England’s 2-1 win over Tunisia in Volgograd on Monday, while Rashford and Loftus-Cheek both made a positive impact from the substitutes’ bench.
Alli suffered a thigh strain against Tunisia is a doubt to face Panama. The team sheet puts his (misspelled) name away from the rest of the team with a “medical” label.