England travel to Hampden Park on Tuesday for a ‘friendly’ against old rivals Scotland.
Manager Gareth Southgate is feeling the heat once again after an underwhelming draw with Ukraine ended England’s perfect form in 2023 and the pressure will be ramped up if he fails to turn things around against a Scotland side who are a perfect five-from-five this calendar year.
Here’s how the boss could set up.
GK: Jordan Pickford – While Aaron Ramsdale may hope to see some minutes, Southgate may resist dropping his favourite stopper for a game of this magnitude.
RB: Kyle Walker – Similarly, Walker’s importance to an increasingly shaky England defence may see him play a hefty role, although a well-deserved trip to the bench on the hour mark is on the cards.
CB: Harry Maguire – Maguire will hope to play here as, if he doesn’t regain a regular Manchester United place, this could feasibly be his last call-up for a while.
CB: Levi Colwill – With John Stones out injured, this centre-back spot is up for grabs and it should be Colwill’s turn to stake his claim.
LB: Kieran Trippier – Southgate has just one left-back available to him, Ben Chilwell, so Trippier may be switched over to that side of the pitch.
DM: Declan Rice – There’ll be some minutes for Kalvin Phillips, who is in a similarly perilous situation as Maguire, but Rice is too important to bench.
CM: Conor Gallagher – A thoroughly impressive start to the season for Chelsea should see Gallagher rewarded with another international start.
CM: Jude Bellingham – Bellingham almost didn’t make it to this game after accidentally walking on to Ukraine’s coach after the last outing, but his inner GPS should be working a little better this time.
RW: Bukayo Saka – Saka likely won’t play the full game but Southgate will want the Arsenal man to bag a goal or two before heading for a rest.
ST: Harry Kane – There’s no dropping Kane, who is set to play on British soil for the first time since leaving Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.
LW: Phil Foden – Wide options are limited for Southgate, who didn’t call up Raheem Sterling and lost Jack Grealish to injury. If Foden wants to impress, he may have to do it out on the left.
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