Nadir Belhadj believes Algeria can exploit England's 'weak' defence in their Group C encounter on Friday.
England were rated among the pre-tournament favourites for the World Cup but, following disappointing showings in the warm-up games against Mexico, Japan and Platinum Stars and the 1-1 draw with USA, there are now doubts about Fabio Capello's side.
Algeria face an uphill battle if they are to reach the second round after a 1-0 defeat to Slovenia in their opening game, but Belhadj feels they can cause a major upset against England.
"It is a vital match against England, who are clearly the stronger side, but their defence is their weakness and we are going to play a lot better in attack than we did against Slovenia in our first match," he said in the Sun.
"It will be an open game and we must win - but so must England. They are the group favourites but anything is possible in football. On paper, England are the best team, but they have had some difficulties, especially in the recent friendly against Japan.
"We have seen some gaps, especially in their defence, and, if we can take advantage of those gaps in the way Japan did, maybe it could make the difference and we could create history by qualifying from the group stages.
"I have a lot of respect for all the England players. I have played with some of them, such as Glen Johnson and Peter Crouch, but, on match day, I will fight for my national team. On the pitch, they will not be my friends."
Belhadj believes Portsmouth team-mate David James should start ahead of Robert Green on Friday.
"For me it was a surprise not to see him in goal for England against the USA," he said. "I think James is a far better goalkeeper and much more experienced, and he should be in goal against us later this week.
"Green made a very bad mistake and I can't see how he can carry on."
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