MX23RW : Thursday, April 25 07:09:59| >> :120:54768:54768:

Gareth Southgate expected to name a largely tried and tested England squad

Gareth Southgate expected to name a largely tried and tested England squad
© Reuters
With the Three Lions in control of Group I, they travel to face Andorra on October 9 before hosting Hungary at Wembley three days later.

Gareth Southgate is expected to name a largely tried and tested England squad on Thursday ahead of the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Hungary.

With the Three Lions in control of Group I, they travel to the Pyrenees to face Andorra on October 9 before hosting Hungary at Wembley three days later.

For the September triple-header, Southgate stuck with the majority of the squad which took England to the final of Euro 2020 earlier in the summer.

Harry Maguire was injured during Manchester United's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.
Harry Maguire was injured during Manchester United's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa (Jon Super/AP)

There will have to be changes this time around with Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire likely to miss out with a calf problem and Trent Alexander-Arnold suffering an adductor injury in
Liverpool training earlier this week.

While Southgate has plenty of options in defence, those injuries could present an opportunity for the likes of Ben White, Fikayo Tomori or Joe Gomez to earn recalls.

White is the most likely, having settled into life at Arsenal after being included in the squad at the European Championship as a late replacement for Alexander-Arnold.

With the Liverpool right-back missing once more – and concerns over the severity of an ankle injury to Chelsea's Reece James – Southgate may be tempted to take a look at a number of uncapped full-backs including Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Tino Livramento or Max Aarons.

Phil Foden is expected to earn a recall having been injured for the September international break.
Phil Foden is expected to earn a recall having been injured for the September international break (Mike Egerton/PA)

One player almost certain to return is Manchester City's Phil Foden, who missed the recent games with Hungary, Andorra and Poland due to a foot complaint.

It remains to be seen, however, if Manchester United's Mason Greenwood will earn a call-up.

The 19-year-old has one senior cap but was left out in September despite scoring in United's opening three Premier League fixtures of the new campaign with Southgate saying Greenwood was "in his thoughts" but that he was conscious that progression into a senior England player came at the right time. 

Ivan Toney has impressed for Brentford at the start of the season.
Ivan Toney has impressed for Brentford at the start of the season (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Instead, Leeds striker Patrick Bamford was included as the only new face but he struggled on his debut and has hit just one goal in six club appearances this season.

If Southgate wants to continue auditioning understudies for Harry Kane, Brentford's Ivan Toney may have a sniff of being involved following his fine start.

Toney has two goals and two assists so far for the Bees and has played a big part in their impressive Premier League introduction.

Jimmy Greaves scored 44 goals during his England career
Jimmy Greaves scored 44 goals during his England career (PA Archive)

Kane himself will be included despite failing to find the back of the net in the Premier League for Tottenham so far this season.

He scored three in three during the last international break and is now three behind the 44 England goals scored by Jimmy Greaves – who died earlier this month.

The home fixture against Hungary will be an emotional one with tributes to both Greaves and fellow 1966 World Cup winner Roger Hunt, who died this week, with the Football Association finalising plans on how the two players will be remembered.

ID:465976:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect8867:

Click here for more stories about Gareth Southgate

Click here for more stories about England

Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Roger Hunt pictured in 2006
Read Next:
Roger Hunt: The hero of the Kop who helped England to World Cup glory
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool34228475344174
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd33165125150153
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle331551369541550
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Bournemouth34129134960-1145
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
12Wolverhampton WanderersWolves34127154654-843
13Fulham34126165054-442
14Crystal Palace34109154456-1239
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton34118153648-1233
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3437243392-5916


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!