Unburdened by expectation can England get their tournament off to a good start?

Raheem Sterling will be a key figure England as Three  seek first win at the World Cup since 2010

The last few days in Russia have been an eye opener with the so-called lesser sides surprising some of the big guns in this year's World Cup. Subsequently, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and defending champions Germany haven't lived up to their billing failing to win their respective opening matches.

This should serve as inspiration for England as they are set to take on Tunisia in tonight's late kick off.

The Three Lions have found the going tough at major tournaments in recent times and go into their match against Tunisia having to atone for past indiscretions.

Four years ago, the English made one of their most anaemic performances at the World Cup. In Brazil they could only secure a solitary point while scoring just two goals and had an early return trip as Costa Rica and not the Italians or Uruguay upstaged them.

Two years later, after qualifying with relative ease, in France at Euro 2016 they had one of the great slip-ups in the history of the tournament as they were upset by surprise package Iceland in a 2-1 loss. The loss was duly dubbed as "the most humiliating defeat in English football history".

As a result England head into Russia unburdened by expectation and armed with a squad bursting with talent in attack along with breath taking pace and an evident threat in front of goal they will look to prove a point to their doubters.

Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli have had relative success throughout the season and without a doubt will be the names England will to for inspiration. That attacking unit will also be supported by the emerging talents of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Marcus Rashford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in their search for victory.

However, they won't have it all their own way against Tunisia who unlike the rest of Africa's participants come into the tournament highly ranked and technically sound.

The Tunisians have a game plan which is heavily focused on possession football and will likely probe for holes in England's game plan. A cohesive and solid team, having only conceded just four goals in qualification, Tunisia can pose problems for an inexperienced England team who despite their potential on attack don't look all that convincing on defence.

This has the looks for an interesting encounter as on one hand, we have a young english team with a point to prove, and on the other an unknown quantity who come highly rated with the expectations of a continent behind them.