England manager Gareth Southgate is expected to shake up his squad for matches against Switzerland and Ivory Coast as he continues preparation for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
England are set to play friendlies against Switzerland, in support of the FA’s official charity partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society International, and then Ivory Coast – the two teams’ first meeting at senior level.
Southgate is due to name his squad for the matches at 2pm on Thursday 17 March.
International break fixtures
- Saturday 26 March, 5.30pm, Wembley Stadium: England vs Switzerland
- Tuesday 29 March, 7.45pm, Wembley Stadium: England vs Ivory Coast
Goalkeepers
England No 1 Jordan Pickford has become a stalwart of Southgate’s side, beating out competition to play every match at Euro 2020 but at Everton he is fighting relegation, conceding five to Tottenham on Monday night.
The Merseyside keeper faces competition from Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale who has 11 clean sheets in the Premier League this season, the third most behind Ederson and Alisson Becker.
Nevertheless, it will be hard to displace Pickford who first nailed down his place in the starting XI at the World Cup in 2018.
Nick Pope has slid down the pecking order this season with relegation-threatened Burnley but he was in conversation to replace Pickford ahead of the Euros before suffering a serious knee injury that ended up requiring surgery.
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Defence
Much like Pickford, Harry Maguire rarely puts a foot wrong for England but has been struggling at club level as Manchester United’s top four hopes become slimmer and slimmer.
His centre-back partner John Stones has struggled for regular game time at Manchester City but the pair are yet to let the manager down.
With little resting on these friendlies, Southgate may test new pairings by recalling AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori, whose near-fluent Italian interview helped draw attention this week to his form at Serie A’s table-toppers.
Conor Coady has been a regular at the heart of a miserly Wolves defence – only Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool have a better defensive record this season in the Premier League – and he could be joined by team-mate Max Kilman, who is awaiting his first international call up.
Midfield
Since the days of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes, England have always struggled to produce the potential in the midfield.
Nowadays there are several options but Southgate has a difficult task of pleasing fans who will inevitably see at least one talented option miss out.
Jude Bellingham continues to impress as a young leader at Borussia Dortmund despite their questionable form, having been knocked out of the Europa League by Rangers.
Emile Smith Rowe is also in the conversation despite losing the Arsenal starting XI place to Martin Odegaard. The No 10 has netted nine goals this season, joint-first for most goals by a midfielder this season.
Across London at Crystal Palace, Conor Gallagher is enjoying a successful loan spell playing a part in 14 goals, but he will probably have to displace the likes of Mason Mount whose place in the squad is more secure.
Forwards
Harry Kane is just one behind Sir Bobby Charlton’s international goal count and at club level is back on form, having reached 10 goals in the league and overtaken Thierry Henry in the all-time Premier League list.
The Spurs striker and England captain is the first name on Southgate’s team-sheet but the question remains about who is best suited to accompanying him.
Marcus Rashford is said to be considering his future at Manchester United after a struggle and with Jarrod Bowen becoming West Ham’s main outlet there have been calls for him to receive his first England cap.
He has been integral to the Hammers’ push for the top four, providing the assistance Michail Antonio has needed when during his rare goal drought.
Jadon Sancho has also come under the critics’ spotlight, previously struggling to secure a starting position in Manchester but since becoming a regular, he has arguably been the Red Devils’ only bright spark.
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