England boss, Gareth Southgate has chosen his England squad for upcoming fixtures against Australia and a Euro final repeat against Italy, with some surprising decisions. But who deserves their recall and who is lucky to be included?
Who Were The Surprise Inclusions In The England Squad?
Starting off at the back, Harry Maguire makes yet another of Southgate’s England squad’s despite only making one start for Erik ten Hag’s injury-hit Manchester United side. The former Leicester City defender was heavily abused by Scotland fans last time out which led Gareth Southgate to defend the centre back publicly.
Bukayo Saka retains his place in the squad despite being forced off in Arsenal’s midweek Champions League loss against Lens.
On Saka’s injury, Southgate said: “He’s still being assessed as they’ve obviously got a big game this weekend and then there’s another seven days before we play Australia and 10 days before we play Italy so everybody will monitor everything as we go forward.”
Following backlash over his summer move to At-Ettifaq, Jordan Henderson once again keeps his place, while Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips is included despite a lack of minutes for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Marcus Rashford also keeps his place despite faltering form, scoring just one goal for Manchester United this season, as the Red Devils’ difficult start to the season continues.
Who Got The Recall They Deserved?
Both Jarrod Bowen and Ollie Watkins have been recalled to Southgate’s England squad following scintillating performances for their respective club sides. Bowen is the Premier League’s third highest goalscorer this season with five, while Watkins notched a hat-trick in Aston Villa’s recent decimation of Brighton.
Speaking on Bowen’s inclusion, Southgate said: “We have added Jarrod Bowen in those wide areas, he’s scored five in seven games and is playing really well and with the Australia game as well there’s the opportunity to learn some different things as well.”
Manchester City duo John Stones and Jack Grealish rejoin the squad off the back of their 3-1 away win to RB Leipzig in last night’s Champions League encounter, having both missed out on the last international break through injury.
Here it is: your #ThreeLions squad for October! 👊
— England (@England) October 5, 2023
Who Misses Out On Southgate’s Squad?
Despite being a regular under Southgate, Raheem Sterling misses out on his third consecutive squad, due to poor form, injury troubles and Chelsea’s poor start to the season.
Newcastle stopper Nick Pope also misses out to Aaron Ramsdale despite the Arsenal goalkeeper losing his No 1 spot to David Raya in recent weeks, and Pope conceding just one goal in six games for the Magpies.
However, perhaps the biggest surprise omission of them all is James Ward-Prowse. The former Southampton captain has been directly involved in 8 goals in 8 games for West Ham following his £30m move to the east London club in the summer, but still fails to reclaim his place in Gareth Southgate’s squad.
What is the Southgate’s England Squad in full?
Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale
Defenders: John Stones, Levi Colwill, Lewis Dunk, Marc Guehi, Harry Maguire, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Jordan Henderson, Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen, James Maddison, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Eddie Nketiah, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Ollie Watkins
England’s first test is a friendly against Australia at Wembley on Friday 13 October (unlucky for some), with their Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy taking place on October 17.
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