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England's participation in the first ever Nations League competition begins this weekend when the Three Lions host Spain on Saturday evening. In addition to taking their inaugural steps in UEFA's new and intriguing format, this will also be England's first outing since that heroic World Cup campaign, far surpassing expectations to reach the tournament's semi-finals.

Spain, meanwhile, are at the start of a new era under Luis Enrique which should see them move away from the traditions of tiki-taka that made them perhaps the most dominant World Cup winners of all time in 2010. So, how will this match unfold? Football FanCast take a look at where Saturday's clash will be lost and won...

The Key Battle - Jordan Henderson versus The Playmakers

It's becoming the norm for deep-lying midfielders to marshal the engine room almost completely on their own, with those accompanying them bombing forward in the roaming No.8 roles. We've seen Fernandinho excel in that capacity against Manchester City while Jordan Henderson performed surprisingly well at the World Cup behind Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard despite being routinely outnumbered.

But the Liverpool captain faces perhaps his biggest challenge yet in the anchoring role as part of Southgate's 3-1-4-2 setup this Saturday, simply because of the sheer number of playmakers he'll be surrounded by. Thiago Alcantara and Saul Niguez both like to create chances, but wide attackers Isco and Marco Asensio will drift inward as well.

Although that gives England a great chance of bogging Spain down in central areas before staging counter-attacks, it also leaves Henderson with a big job to do. He'll need members of the back three to step into midfield at times, and either Alli or Lingard to drop deep as well.

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The Key Dynamic - Set Pieces

England rightly received plenty of praise for their inventiveness and subsequent potency at set pieces during the World Cup, with six representing the biggest haul of any team involved in the tournament. Kieran Trippier's right boot is proving to be something of a wand, while Harry Kane, Henderson and the three centre-halves offer five intimidating aerial threats.

And that should be a real worry for Spain, because they conceded twice from set pieces in just four World Cup games. To some extent they'll always struggle because the profile of the average Spanish player is a lot shorter than those from most other European countries, but it's clearly a weakness that Enrique needs to work on to ensure Spain's immaculate football isn't repeatedly squandered by conceding sloppy set piece goals.

The World Cup showed just how big a part of the game set pieces are at international level, and that won't be any different in the Nations League.

The Deciding Factor - Have the players bought into Enrique?

This game very much represents a new era for Spain as their first under new manager Luis Enrique, who has already divided opinion amongst supporters by leaving Jordi Alba out of his inaugural squad, having fallen out with the left-back towards the end of his Barcelona tenure. On top of that, Enirque is expected to change Spain's style to something more dynamic and penetrative, echoing the changes he made at the Nou Camp after their tiki-taka approach began to turn a little stale.

That could involve a change in formation too - Enrique is known for his willingness to switch to a back three should opportunities allow - so Spain's performance against England could very much depend on whether key players like Sergio Ramos and Sergio Busquets are open to the new manager's way of thinking, not to mention whether he's had enough time on the training pitch to really get that way of thinking across to his players.

The Impact Subs - Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rodrigo

Kieran Trippier and Ashley Young showed during the World Cup just how important the wing-back roles are to England's system and while it's likely the Tottenham man will keep his place for the Spain clash, Trent Alexander-Arnold appears to be a key part of Southgate's long-term vision for the Three Lions squad. That could see him enter the fray from the bench against Spain and his mixture of energy, attacking verve and dangerous delivery may well have a decisive impact late on against tired legs.

For Spain, meanwhile, Rodrigo represents a talent who symbolises the direction Enrique hopes to take this team. After years of threatening to take the footballing world by storm - and even spending one season on loan at Bolton Wanderers - the forward finally exploded to life last season with 16 strikes in La Liga for Valencia. He's still not a prolific goalscorer or a fear-inducing presence, which is why Alvaro Morata looks likely to start instead against England, but Rodrigo's sensational pace will go a long way to changing the dynamics of this often one-dimensional Spain side.