England’s World Cup 2022 campaign begins on November 21st with one of those games the Three Lions have had a habit of messing up in the past. Gareth Southgate’s side begins its tournament on Monday 21st November against Iran. On paper, it sounds reasonably straight forward for the Euro 2020 finalists, but you don’t have to look too far back to find similar banana skins putting the Lions on their backs.
In 2010, England’s Golden Generation of Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Steven Gerard and Frank Lampard managed to draw 0-0 with Algeria and that after they had been held 1-1 by the USA. Rooney had said before the Algeria game that England could be below their best and still win, not the brightest thing to suggest; and the Algerians responded. So this England team cannot afford such misplaced arrogance when they meet Iran.
England’s recent form has been poor and the World Cup 2022 betting odds have responded by pushing them out of the top four favourites, behind Brazil, Argentina, France and Spain, and I worry that they will struggle without some absentees; two wing- backs in particular.
Ben Chilwell and Reece James
Chelsea are languishing in eighth place in the Premier League after a run of three losses and it is no surprise that the long term injury problems of Ben Chilwell have persisted, while the former Leicester City man has been joined by his clubmate Reece James in the physio room.
Chilwell has picked up 17 caps for England and is widely seen as the best left back option for the Three Lions and he was lined up to take his place in Qatar but he suffered a nasty hamstring strain during a Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb. His absence is a big blow to Southgate and a ligament injury suffered by James means double trouble for the England boss. Both players are excellent defenders and supportive in attack, with James delivery from the right flank among the best in the world. And Chilwell’s absence means Manchester United’s Luke Shaw is the only recognised left back in the squad
Chelsea’s poor run of form has put new head coach Graham Potter under some early pressure, and his woes are now been shared by the national team.
Ivan Toney
The omission of Brentford striker Ivan Toney has raised plenty of eyebrows, after he took his season tally to ten goals and two assists last weekend to sit third in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot. Only England skipper Harry Kane has scored more as an Englishman, with 12 goals and one assist. The next English striker on the list is Newcastle United’s Callum Wilson who is in his best form, but that means six goals so far this season and Wilson has been dogged by injury. And then there’s Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, who has scored four so far and hasn’t really moved on over the past two or three seasons.
Toney shrugged off his disappointment at missing out on a deserved England call by scoring two goals as Brentford beat Manchester City 2-1 last weekend. The Bees striker’s current league form suggests he would make a fair few World Cup 2022 highlights if he was in Qatar, and if anything happens to Kane’s form or fitness I suspect Southgate will regret this call.
James Ward Prowse
Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher was preferred to James Ward Prowse in England’s final 26 and that was another decision which has divided opinion. The Saints captain has been a consistently high performer in the Premier League, scoring 41 goals and making 36 assists for the South coast club over the past nine campaigns and his dead ball free kicks are the best in the Premier League.
Ward Prowse has shown he can live with the very best and will never let his team-mates down, while Gallagher still has a lot to prove. At 22 years of age he has spent much of his career out on loan but, now back at his parent club Chelsea he has caught the England boss’s eye. And Southgate may also be happy to rely on the in-form James Maddison in the creative midfield role as he too has a superb dead ball delivery, but the Leicester man has just one cap to his name and has never been the most consistent character on or off the pitch.
So there you have it folks; four players who have missed out on England selection for the upcoming World Cup; two through injury and two as a result of the manager’s selection. Others such as West Ham’s midfielder Jarrod Bowen and Everton centre back James Tarkowski may also feel unlucky but Southgate will stand or fall by his calls. Here at SBOTOP we’ll be back with the previews and the best Asian Handicap Betting offers as the tournament approaches; and the debate around whether England have enough to compete to the very end will, no doubt, reverberate throughout the land.
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