Exactly two months from today, England will begin their European Championship campaign at Wembley against 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia. There is already plenty of optimism over Gareth Southgate’s men, who dropped just one game in qualifying and will have home advantage during the tournament.
Injuries mount in midfield
The centre of the park is traditionally an area of great depth and strength for England, but Southgate will definitely be concerned over the injuries to Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson. Rice has practically played every game for West Ham over the last 2-3 seasons and was mostly injury-free until picking up one on international duty that also threatens to affect his side’s CL qualification hopes.
Another player Southgate will be hoping who recovers and is back to his best before the Championships is Henderson. The Liverpool skipper is a very influential player, and the Reds have suffered without him in the centre of the park. Henderson is also versatile, having played in central defence this season in the absence of Virgil van Dijk & Joe Gomez, and doing a pretty good job at it as well. Versatility is always a valued trait, especially in squads for big continental events like this.
Will home advantage play a major role?
England will play all three of their group games at Wembley and the semi-finals and finals of the tournament are also set to be played at the same venue. This is a massive advantage in the context of things, and a look at the Euro 2020 betting at Sportsbet.io reveals that the Three Lions are actually favourites for the crown, even ahead of world champions France at the time of writing.
England are due to play their Round of 16 clash in Dublin, but even that could change to Wembley, with the Irish government unable to offer a guarantee of fans being able to attend.
Do Lingard and Sancho go to the Championships?
Lingard has virtually re-invented himself at West Ham and appears to be in the form of his life, as illustrated by his two goals against fellow CL aspirants Leicester that helped the Hammers win 3-2 over the weekend. Could he potentially go to the Championships? England’s forward line is a crowded one, but there are growing rumours that Jadon Sancho might miss out, and TV pundits Neville & Carragher actually chose not to include the Dortmund star in their squad. If Sancho misses out, Lingard might well be a surprise choice, especially if he continues his fine run of form. But Sancho has tasted international glory with England before (at U17 level alongside Phil Foden), and that might play a role for Southgate.
Where does Jack Grealish fit in?
The Aston Villa captain is out due to injury, and his side’s poor run has almost coincided with his absence from the team. Grealish could play in a front three or even in midfield, but it remains to be seen whether Southgate has a spot for the talented Villa star in his starting XI.