England vs Uruguay World Cup 2014: Five reasons why Roy Hodgson's men WON'T beat Uruguay tonight

England face an uphill task in their key group game tonight

Wayne Rooney leaves the field following defeat for England (GETTY IMAGES)

England face Uruguay in Sao Paolo tonight, knowing that defeat will almost certainly see them crash out of the tournament.

Sadly for Roy Hodgson's men, things don't look good, these are five reasons why England WON'T win against Luis Suarez and co.

1. Home conditions

Just 833 miles separate Sao Paulo and Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, meaning Oscar Tabarez’s side will be kicking off tonight in conditions that are very familiar to them. Forget Stoke on a cold and rainy Tuesday night, the real question is can England cut it on a tropical Thursday night nearly 6000 miles from home?

Arena de Sao Paulo (Getty Images)

2. Defensive frailty

Gone are the days when England could practically pick from an entire XI of top class defenders, now Roy Hodgson’s defensive cupboard looks fairly bare. Glen Johnson is England’s first choice right back through default as much as anything else and despite some poor performances has no real challenger for his place. Much was made of Hodgson’s decision to select Luke Shaw over Ashley Cole for the World Cup, but on the evidence so far, it appears that perhaps leaving Leighton Baines behind would have been the sensible choice. He lacks Cole’s vast wealth of big-game experience and defensive know-how and was badly exposed against Italy for their second goal. The prospect of Uruguay’s stellar attack running at him feels like an accident waiting to happen.

Baines was exposed against Italy (GETTY IMAGES)

3. Midfield deficiencies

Roy Hodgson has rightly been praised for his bold and youthful squad selection for this tournament, but it still cannot hide the fact that England’s midfield is horribly unbalanced. England may be able to call on an array of exciting attacking options, but in central midfield it’s a different story and Hodgson lacks stability. Unless of course this is the tournament that Lampard and Gerrard finally play well together…

Is there no one else? (GETTY IMAGES)

4. Cavani and Suarez

Two men who should need no introduction and who look set to terrorise England’s defence. With 56 international goals between them, the two world class strikers would walk into the first XI of any country in this tournament, and will be surely licking their lips at the prospect of running at England’s suspect full backs. Even a half-fit Suarez remains a serious threat.

Luis Suarez will still be a threat but won't be fully fit for the game (GETTY IMAGES)

5.Wayne Rooney

Once the next great saviour of English football, now its potato-faced tabloid villain, the criticism of Wayne Rooney has often been harsh and unmerited. However he has often failed to convince as a No.10, his heavy touch and creative failings all too often exposed, and as an out and out striker his form puts him behind Daniel Sturridge in the pecking order. Capable of moments of genius but at the same time his ponderous play threatens to bring down all of those around him. A real conundrum for Roy Hodgson to deal with and one which weakens the side immeasurably.