Jude Bellingham is 'Gareth Southgate's version of Steven Gerrard' at World Cup

Jude Bellingham is 'Gareth Southgate's version of Steven Gerrard' at World Cup,PHIL THOMPSON'S WORLD CUP COLUMN: Jude Bellingham is only 19 but his goal-scoring performance against Iran was breathtaking to show his importance to England

Jude Bellingham is ‘Gareth Southgate’s version of Steven Gerrard’ at World Cup

England vs Wales is massive and it's a fixture that's played an important role in my life.

I made my England debut against Wales – and a few years later captained the team against them, which was another huge honour. It's a fixture you've got to play in to properly understand it – and it's similar to playing against Scotland – the fans are just so passionate and desperately want to beat England.

You know Wales will turn up on Tuesday, it's a derby match, they will absolutely defend for their lives.

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I expect Wales to be well organised and more committed than ever. They're capable of pulling off an upset and I've got no doubt it'll be a fight and a battle across the whole pitch. Every single ball is going to be massively contested.

England have to keep calm and play their game, we've got quality all round, but the game could be won or lost in those last 15 minutes or 20 minutes. You've got to stay at it and win the individual battles.

At every set piece Wales will pile players forward and Gareth Bale needs just one moment of magic. The passion for his country shines through and who knows how much longer he'll be able to go on. He seems to increasingly pick up injuries and we could be nearing the final hurrah for him.

In contrast, England have got one particular player who is just starting his career and has a similarly huge future ahead of him – Jude Bellingham. He's the nearest player I've ever seen to a young Steven Gerrard and that's high praise indeed.

Jude Bellingham is modern England's version of Steven Gerrard (Image: Getty Images)

Gareth Southgate has got England to start strongly at the World Cup (Image: Getty Images)

He's tall, good in the air, can tackle, get forward and has a superb range of passing. He's 19 years old for goodness sake and deserves every last plaudit. He will be a revelation for England for years to come. He's so mature and is taking everything on board. Having that level of maturity in someone his age is really quite rare. The world is his oyster – he's going to have the pick of all the top clubs in Europe – I just hope Liverpool are in the mix too.

Whatever happens in this final group game, Wales head coach Rob Page has gone under the radar and deserves huge credit for what he's achieved. You can see he's got respect from the players. He taps into their values, the nation and the fans. He's really done a terrific job and they're punching above their weight all the time.

He might be looking to the future after the tournament professionally though. I think he'd love to do dual role, managing Wales and a club, but whether he'd be allowed to remains to be seen. If there was a job in the Championship, or even the lower end of the Premier League, I think he'd have to seriously consider it. Timing is everything in life and it might be Page's time to shine.