Gary Lineker
Match of the Day presenter

"Pre-tournament friendlies are awful games to play in. Forever fearful of injury, slightly off full pace, a sort of necessary evil.

"The only thing worth looking for is a hint of World Cup tactics. Anything but the inflexible, dated, predictable two lines of four with two up front, please. I'm happy with 4-3-3, 4-1-2-1-2 or diamond, even 4-2-3-1.

"The key is depth in your midfield. You can't play well in straight lines at this level."

Andrew: England are in a catch 22 position tonight; play well and win and expectations will rise ahead of the World Cup. Play poorly and struggle to get a result and people will immediately jump on the back of the squad, resulting in morale and confidence dropping. Let's keep our perspective people.

You can text us on 81111, tweet us using #bbcfootball,, external post a message on the BBC Sport Facebook page, external or via Google +., external

It is in the weeks leading up to a World Cup that pundits, former footballers and ex-managers have their say on England, but there have been some comments from less likely sources.

One in particular is professor Stephen Hawking. More renowned for answering the most complex questions in theoretical physics, he has had his say on who will be England's top scorer at the World Cup.

"I'm going to say Sturridge," he told BBC Newsnight. "If you look at goals per minute in this year's Premier League then Sturridge scores once every 108 minutes, compared to Rooney once every 144 minutes. In addition to this, I think psychological factors will be on Sturridge's side. He is in the form of his life and Rooney is playing with the albatross of never scoring in the World Cup finals around his neck."

Hard to argue with that.

Ex-England defender Danny Mills
BBC Radio 5 live

"I think it's quite a positive England team. I would probably play Raheem Sterling on the right side of an attacking three. I'm very interested with the formation.

"Steven Gerrard has been exceptional in a holding role and it will be a slightly different role for Jordan Henderson to the one he plays for Liverpool.

"Roy Hodgson said this will be a good indication of what he is thinking for the Italy game and I wouldn't envisage there would be too many changes for that game."

Image source, Sharemytactics.com

It does indeed look like 4-2-3-1 Gary (see below). Daniel Sturridge plays as the lone striker, ahead of Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney and Adam Lallana, with Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard deep.

The defence is as expected, with Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka the centre-backs. Leighton Baines and Glen Johnson occupy the left and right-back positions respectively.

Gary Lineker:, external Are we looking at a 4-2-3-1 formation here? Would take that, although personally think Sterling is miles ahead of Welbeck.

Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana all start for England. No Raheem Sterling in the first XI.

OptaJoe:, external 6 - England have won their last six warm up matches/friendlies in the run-up to international tournaments. Preparation.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport Chief Football Writer at Wembley

"One man who could be forgiven for having his thoughts elsewhere tonight is England striker Rickie Lambert. He is scheduled to undergo a medical at his boyhood club Liverpool tomorrow with the intention of completing a £4m move from Southampton before England fly to the United States to complete their World Cup build up.

"It is a move that would complete his remarkable journey through the leagues to England international and then back to the club where he was released as a youngster - and that is even before he is part of Roy Hodgson's plans in Brazil.

"First things first though and he may be called upon this evening against Peru."

Luke Shaw's Southampton team-mate Rickie Lambert will be hoping to earn a fifth England cap today.

I say Shaw's team-mate, but it looks as though that might not be the case for much longer, with Liverpool closing in on a bit of a surprise move for Lambert.

After being released by Liverpool at 15, working at a beetroot bottling plant to make ends meet and not making his Premier League debut until he was 30, he is now set to join his boyhood club.

What a fairytale story his career is.

Not long until the line-ups are announced. Most likely missing out will be Luke Shaw, with Roy Hodgson confirming yesterday the Southampton full-back has a cold.

"He travelled down on Saturday but he didn't train today and we're being very cautious. We can't say whether he will recover or not but it's a very minor issue and will quickly go over," said Hodgson.

Image source, Getty Images

The last time England faced Peru, the moon had yet to be landed on, England were still to win the World Cup and the Beatles were little known outside the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

Walter Winterbottom's England travelled to Lima to play Peru in a warm-up match for the 1962 World Cup in Chile and won the game 4-0, Jimmy Greaves scoring a hat-trick.

The fixture was probably more significant for Bobby Moore's debut, as he won the first of his 108 caps. Will any of the youngsters on show tonight go on to have such an international impact as Bobby did?

'So why Peru?' I hear you cry. Well apparently they were selected because of their supposed similarity to England's World Cup opponents, and Peru's fellow South Americans, Uruguay.

It is unlikely, though, that they will pose the test that Roy Hodgson had perhaps hoped for, with no-one in their ranks coming close to the ability of Uruguay and Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.

Still, if England can produce a solid performance and see off Peru convincingly, I'm pretty sure Hodgson won't mind his players jetting off with a morale-boosting win under their belts.

Rian Hoskins:, external Hope Adam Lallana starts against Italy instead of James Milner while Raheem Sterling should be ahead of Danny Welbeck. Roy Hodgson may have different ideas.

Peter William Scott:, external Looking forward to seeing how Lallana, Daniel Sturridge, Wayne Rooney and Sterling can work together. If they really click, we could do well.

Peter Jordan:, external Recall Steven Gerrard/Frank Lampard were ineffective in hot conditions in Germany 06. Youth and fitness trumps experience for the heat of Brazil.

Penalties. The scourge of the England national team.

"All you need to do is walk 50 yards, take a penalty and score," wrote Stuart Pearce in his autobiography. It is never as simple as that, though, is it?

Think you know where the perfect place to hit a penalty is, or where would be considered 'dangerous territory'? Have a read of Gary Lineker's interactive guide to penalties in a shiny new feature on the BBC Sport website.

BBC sports news correspondent Natalie Pirks at Wembley: "Roy Hodgson has hinted this will be a strong side tonight and I suspect we will get bit more of an insight as to who will start against Italy than we will in the other two warm-up games. There is plenty to ponder: who will partner Steven Gerrard in midfield? Is Wayne Rooney fit enough? Could Raheem Sterling get a start?

"This does feel like a happy camp. The contrast from this time around to four years ago is quite stark. Roy Hodgson has named that 23, he has left out big names like Ashley Cole and has the likes of Michael Carrick on the standby list but he has managed to keep everyone happy. The 23 selected know they are loved and know they are wanted."

BBC Radio 5 live

BBC Radio 5 live:, external Wembley is set, so are we!

BBC Radio 5 live

There will be full live commentary of tonight's England v Peru match on BBC Radio 5 live. The coverage begins at 19:00 BST and will be presented by Mark Pougatch, with ex-England winger Chris Waddle joining him.

Once the match starts at 20:00 BST, our commentary team of Mike Ingham, Alan Green and former England defender Danny Mills will guide you through all the action from Wembley.

You can, of course, enhance your match-following experience with this live text commentary combined with 5 live commentary by clicking on the 'Live Coverage' tab at the top of this page.

Tom Potts:, external Ross Barkley to make a big impression if he is given the chance. Top scorer for England-Rooney.

Craig Forester:, external Think Ross Barkley will have a big impact at this World Cup and beyond.

Tayyib Abu:, external Rooney MUST NOT start v Italy. Sadly he will because the media fawn over him. Sturridge should play instead.

When the line-ups are announced at around 19:00 BST, don't expect many, if any, recognisable names in the Peru starting XI.

The likes of Bayern Munich striker and national team captain Claudio Pizarro and FC Schalke forward Jefferson Farfan have not made the trip over from South America, with new coach Pablo Bengoechea, in his first game in charge, opting to bring over a youthful squad.

Peru did not qualify for this year's World Cup, and have not qualified for the showpiece tournament since 1982. Their golden era was the 1970s, when they reached the quarter-finals of Mexico 1970 and the second group stage in 1978. They won the Copa America in 1975, their last major trophy.