England squad: Jadon Sancho and Eric Dier face a defining moment as Gareth Southgate rounds out World Cup selections | Football News

It’s a crucial moment to decide Qatar’s England squad as Gareth Southgate picks his last team before the World Cup.

Earlier in the week, one of the key decisions for the England manager was whether to recall Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho.

Rashford will be sidelined with a muscle injury, and with Sancho likely to face Italy and Germany in the Nations League later this month, one of those call-ups could have been for him. .

Tottenham’s Eric Dier looks increasingly likely to rejoin the side despite spending nearly two years in exile in England.

Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott and Brentford’s Ivan Tony are both in England’s manager’s mind, but it’s murky which one will be included at this stage.

The choices the England manager makes now will give strong clues about his plans for Qatar. There are only four full international training sessions before selecting his 26 players to represent the country at the first Winter World Cup.

So while Southgate may nominate a larger-than-usual team to make a final assessment of one or two fringe players, don’t expect a large number of experimental newcomers to be called up. please

Do you have room for Rashford and Sancho?

Sancho was a regular England incumbent until 14 months ago when both he and Rashford missed penalties in the deciding shootout against Italy.

Sancho’s form fell off the following season at Old Trafford, as did his England prospects.

But the 22-year-old former Borussia Dortmund winger has bounced back from a prolonged recession and his all-around play is better than his stats suggest. He has scored his two goals in his six Premier League appearances so far this season. .

His United teammate Rashford boasts an even more impressive recent record. Under new United manager Eric ten Hag, Rashford has scored five goals in six Premier League appearances (three goals and two assists). Although the true extent is unknown, this muscle injury occurred at the wrong time.

Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, Mason Mount – England’s pecking order, with a slight lead over Rashford and Sancho.

Jarrod Bowen’s difficult start to the season at West Ham could cost him a place in England this time around.

Southgate impressed by Tony Form

Rashford has been used as Ten Hug’s only striker, so if he is called up to England, could another striker be out?

With Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Patrick Bamford and Callum Wilson all out, Tammy Abraham is expected to keep his place, albeit in poor form at Roma. Southgate sees him for granted as an understudy for Harry Kane.

With Southgate watching from the stands, Abraham was forced off last weekend against Udinese with a shoulder injury. However, his injury was not serious and the 24-year-old returned with a win against Empoli on Monday night.

Speaking of Tony sky sports news Like many pundits, the England manager is said to have been impressed by the appearance of Brentford’s main goal-scorer. His season stats even surpass Rashford. Tony has scored five goals and two assists in the Premier League so far.

The 26-year-old’s impressive form goes back to last season. He has scored his 13 goals in the Premier League since January. It makes him hard to ignore.

Is this a great opportunity for a diamond?

With Harry Maguire in trouble (he hasn’t started in a Premier League game in a month and appears to be losing confidence) Southgate have defensive problems.

Both John Stones and Kyle Walker have suffered minor injuries and should be evaluated before England are called up. If so, we may need to measure game time.

All of that is in Dier’s hands. His consistently impressive performances for Spurs – towards the end of last season and early this season – mean he is arguably England’s best-formed centre-back right now. He was also ahead of the final team selection in May when he admitted he was nearing a recall.

However, the England boss also noted that Deere was being used by Antonio Conte in a fairly specialized position (middle of the back three), with England switching frequently between that formation and the back four.

“We know Eric, but we don’t know some of the younger guys,” Southgate explained his dropout in May. not

No problem in the middle

Whether Conor Gallagher has done enough to maintain his position will be the key question here. He probably hopes Chelsea’s new manager Graham Potter will give him as much game time as Thomas Tuchel.

Calvin Phillips’ return to fitness will be a blessed relief for Southgate. His shoulder injury has kept him out of football for a month, but last week in the Champions League against Sevilla in Manchester he came off the bench at City.

But England’s medical staff will have to work carefully to ensure Phillips is fit and ready to return.

Elsewhere, it will likely be the regular midfield population of Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Mount and James Ward-Prowse.

Easy picking at the goal

With England number one Jordan Pickford out with a thigh injury, it’s a chance for someone else to claim their claim as a first-choice stand-in.

No surprises here – expect Nick Pope, Aaron Lumsdale, and Dean Henderson to be included.

Will young players pass?

Unlike his predecessor, Roy Hodgson, Southgate’s instincts were not to provide a late call-up to players who were out of camp initially, but rather to have a larger pitch in case of subsequent injury withdrawals. It is to nominate the first team.

Add to that the England manager’s constant aim to promote under-21 talent, and the logistics of this camp could help Liverpool’s 19-year-old star Harvey Elliott.

Elliott is now part of the u21 squad, whose friendly matches are organized to mirror those of the senior team. They will play Italy the day before the Southgate team, and play Germany at home the day after the senior side has faced the same opponents at Wembley.

At any stage, promoting Elliott to the senior ranks will be as seamless as possible.

Another bright youngster, Sporting forward Marcus Edwards impressed earlier this week with a Champions League Man of the Match performance against Tottenham, the club that released him three years ago. But don’t expect his sudden call-up. yet.

67 days until England’s first World Cup match against Iran.