England player 'pushing' to be in Gareth Southgate's starting midfielder alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham
One England star is pushing to be in Gareth Southgate’s starting midfield alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham against Brazil.
One England star is pushing to be in Gareth Southgate’s starting midfield alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham against Brazil on Saturday evening.
England are readying to take on Brazil and Wembley on Saturday, in one of the few remaining games before this summer’s European championships.
And Southgate has several selection headaches with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane not fit enough to feature, and long-serving midfielder Jordan Henderson having endured a difficult season at both Al Ittihad and Ajax.
According to the Mail Online, Sami Mokbel, Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon looks set to make his England debut on Saturday.
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Meanwhile, Ollie Watkins is reportedly in line to replace Harry Kane as England’s lone striker ahead of Brentford’s Ivan Toney.
Moreover, Conor Gallagher is “pushing for a start” alongside Rice and Bellingham in a midfield three.
A lack of options may also see Kobbie Mainoo given an opportunity either against Brazil or in Tuesday’s encounter against Belgium.
Elsewhere, with Kane unavailable, right-back Kyle Walker may captain the team as he did against North Macedonia back in November.
Having been dealt a series of injuries, Southgate said: “Everybody across the league has a high number of injuries but it is always more complex.
“Everyone wants a simple solution to complex problems. Some players have been unfortunate. Kane’s injury was when he crashed into the net at the weekend and it forced a mechanism with his ankle.
“He had a winter break and is not playing in our league. So players have had runs of injuries, some of have played too many games too quickly after injuries so there is a whole range and raft for injuries but clearly the intensity of the games and additional minutes…
“We have a long list of 40-odd players and a third are unavailable for tomorrow’s game which is the highest we have ever had.”
Topics: England, Brazil, Gareth Southgate, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon
Chris Byfield