Gareth Southgate has a midfield selection decision to make as England will be without the injured Jude Bellingham for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.
Lewis Dunk, Raheem Sterling and Nick Pope are also unavailable due to injury, while Chelsea defender Levi Colwill, who spent last season on loan at Brighton, is training with the squad.
Bellingham, 19, has remained at the Three Lions’ St George’s Park base and is nursing a knee injury that occurred during the later stages of the season and which ruled him out of Borussia Dortmund’s final game of the campaign against Mainz.
The Real Madrid-bound midfielder became a mainstay of England’s starting XI during the World Cup in Qatar, often occupying high positions in the final third, but now Southgate will have to find someone to fill the void.
Kalvin Phillips could come back into the side after losing his place to Bellingham but he is unlikely to be match fit after struggling for game time at Manchester City this season. Nevertheless, the 27-year-old has demonstrated a great passing range and tactical awareness during his previous appearances for his country.
Alternatively, Southgate could select Jordan Henderson or Conor Gallagher, or else turn to the more attacking Eberechi Eze, who enjoyed a strong end to the season with Crystal Palace.
Eze would be the most exciting option as he ended the season in fine form with six goals and an assist in his final nine Premier League appearances to help Palace comfortably avoid relegation.
The 24-year-old even outperformed Bellingham in the goalscoring charts, netting 10 league goals to the teenager’s eight for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
Eze would be the best stylistic alternative to Bellingham. According to FBREF, he averaged 4.03 shot-creating actions per-90 minutes, compared to Bellingham’s 4.01, while they both ranked in the top percentile for successful take-ons among central midfielders in Europe’s “top five” leagues.
Dunk’s withdrawal has denied Southgate the opportunity to give his defence a makeover. The Brighton captain had an exceptional season and was described as one of the top five central defenders in Europe by his club manager Roberto De Zerbi.
He is a crucial cog in Brighton’s possession-based side leading the top flight for both passes (3,208) and touches (3,520) this season ahead of Rodri, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander Arnold.
Southgate’s first-choice pair of John Stones and Harry Maguire are both in the squad, but he may make changes as the former started for Manchester City in the Champions League final on Saturday, while the latter has hardly featured for Manchester United this year.
Tyrone Mings is back in the squad after enjoying a resurgence under Unai Emery at Aston Villa while Marc Guehi is another option after enjoying an impressive season at Crystal Palace.
With England overwhelming favourites to beat Malta, Southgate may well pick one or both of Mings and Guehi for that game and keep Stones and Maguire fresh for a trickier fixture against North Macedonia, who have beaten Germany and Italy in recent times.
The squad should be in confident mood ahead of the double-header with six members of the squad winning a European trophy over the past week.
Declan Rice captained West Ham to their Europa Conference League triumph, while Stones, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Phillips all won the Champions League as Manchester City won the Treble.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Ramsdale; Alexander-Arnold, Guehi, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Henderson, Eze; Saka, Kane, Rashford.
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