If Fabio Capello's team have any ambitions of advancing beyond their usual quarter-final terminus then beating Algeria, who lost 1-0 to Slovenia in their opener, must be a given.
England have never lost to African opposition but their manager must still answer the many questions swirling around his team and find a way to get his forwards scoring goals.
Their opening 1-1 draw with a well-organised United States team, particularly seen in the context of so many other major nations' stuttering starts, was not a terrible result.
But while Franz Beckenbauer's claim that England have "gone backwards into the bad old days of kick and rush" seems harsh, their Italian manager does have to get his players back to the constructive approach that saw them cruise through qualifying.
Already missing injured captain Rio Ferdinand, England are now without his replacement Ledley King for Friday's game - and possibly the tournament - with Jamie Carragher set to step in.
Behind them Capello seems likely to keep faith with goalkeeper Robert Green, whose blunder handed Clint Dempsey the Americans' equaliser -- though David James could come in.
Up front, for all Wayne Rooney's undoubted talents, he has not scored an international goal since last September, while Emile Heskey's return of seven in 59 games tells its own story.
"He told us he saw things in the first game that were encouraging and he has taken them and told us we should still believe in ourselves and what we are doing," said the tall striker with an international return of 21 goals in 39 games.
"Hopefully, we will go on and do a lot better from now on," he added. "We all know that and we have to make sure we get it right, starting against Algeria."
"They (England) are a super team, as I've said, among the favourites," said Saadane. "It's going to be a very, very difficult match for us but we have nothing to lose."
