Kylian Mbappe appeared to miss France training ahead of their World Cup quarter-final tie against England on Saturday. The Paris Saint-Germain star has scored five goals at the tournament already and has cemented himself as one of the most dangerous strikers on show.
As Didier Deschamps' side got to work preparing to face Gareth Southgate's Three Lions, Mbappe wasn't part of the group that took to the pitch to train ahead of the clash. His omission from the session was described by France's football federation as being for 'recovery'.
France have already had to deal with a host of injury issues heading into the tournament with Christopher Nkunku, Karim Benzema, Mike Maignan and N'Golo Kante amongst those already missing.
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At 23, Mbappe already has nine World Cup goals and three assists, along with a winners medal having also scored in the 2018 final as a teenager. He also has 33 goals in 63 matches for his country in total and has been terrorising defences this winter once more.
For England, stopping Mbappe appears to be a key priority for the heavyweight match, and his pace on the left wing could result in a formation change in order to counter-attack his threat.
Given that he was announced as doing recovery work inside, Southgate's initial plans may be unlikely to change.
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