England manager Gareth Southgate hopes Ivan Toney will grab his big chance to prove his Euro 2024 credentials against Belgium.
The place as Harry Kane’s back-up in Germany is up for grabs after Dominic Calvert-Lewin filled that role at the last Euros and then Callum Wilson did at the World Cup 15 months ago.
This time it looks a straight shootout between Aston Villa frontman Ollie Watkins and Brentford’s Toney, with the former playing the full 90 minutes as he won his 10th cap against Brazil.
Toney watched Saturday’s 1-0 loss from the bench and will get his chance against Belgium on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old’s only cap to date came as a substitute against Ukraine this time last year and he is looking to make up for lost time having returned from an eight-month Football Association betting ban in January.
Asked how big an opportunity Tuesday could be for Toney, Southgate said: “You can’t hide that fact. He knows.
“It would be his first start, so you’ve got to bear that in mind as well.
“But with England that’s the landscape, you don’t get hundreds of opportunities. I think every player recognises that’s the world we live in.
View this post on Instagram“But he’s a confident guy, he comes in on the back of a good run of form with his club. He’s going to be on the field on Tuesday, no question.”Southgate says Toney’s quality from the penalty spot is “definitely a great asset to have”, as well as highlighting his confidence and sometimes underappreciated all-round game.
“That swagger, that self-belief is crucial – all of the top forward players have it,” the England boss said.
“I think sometimes the quality of his football can be underestimated.
“His passing, his link play. We’re still getting to know all of those strengths because until you work with a player more regularly you don’t know them inside out.
“You look at him being a big guy but he’s not just a target man. His quality in link play is very good as well.”
Toney’s opportunity comes as Southgate joked he is “looking at who’s left” to face Belgium, with Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire and Sam Johnstone following Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka in withdrawing from the squad.
The England boss also has to manage minutes in what has ended up being a “bizarre camp” for the Wembley friendlies against the sides fifth and fourth in FIFA’s world rankings.
Southgate would have loved the chance to see Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield against such high-calibre opponents, but a knee injury meant he instead watched Saturday’s loss from the stands.
“He wanted to come to the game,” the England boss said. “He’s obviously in the latter stage of rehab with Liverpool so it wasn’t quite as easy for him to dip in like Luke Shaw did (to St George’s Park last week).
“The midfield thing we’ve seen, but we’ve missed two opportunities with September and now this one that is really frustrating because there’s so much that’s unknown about it at the minute.
“As you know, I’ve liked the idea for a long time but we’re going to be trialling it when we haven’t seen it in a really high level game. So we’ll just have to see where we can go with it.”
Southgate has all manner of headaches to balance before naming his provisional Euro 2024 squad just after the end of the Premier League season.
Jude Bellingham is sure to be one of the first names on the list if fit – but that is easier said than done if the Real Madrid star continues to get fouled as much as he did against Brazil.
“He is a top player and they’re an aggressive side,” Southgate said. “In a competitive game there would have been more cards than there were tonight so that would have curbed that. But that’s a good experience for him to have to go through.
“I thought he handled it well tonight. He’s ended up getting a yellow card that could have been the other way several times.
“The bigger thing tonight was that he was cramping up. He’s missed a lot of football recently so physically he’s still getting back to that top level.”
Bayern Munich 2-0 Wolfsburg: Zvonarek scores on first start in Tuchel's final home game
Second-placed Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 2-0 with teenager Lovro Zvonarek scoring on his first start in their final Bundesliga home game of the season on Sunday as they eased towards the end of a trophy-less campaign.
Bayern have 72 points, two ahead of third-placed Stuttgart with one game remaining. Unbeaten champions Bayer Leverkusen, on 84, visit Bochum later on Sunday.
Four days after Bayern's Champions League semi-final exit to Real Madrid confirmed their first season without silverware in over a decade, the Bavarians put in a solid performance against the Wolves despite a string of changes to Thomas Tuchel's team.
They were missing striker Harry Kane, nursing a minor back problem, and were also without Serge Gnabry, who was injured in their defeat by Real, Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala.
Zvonarek, the 19-year-old Croatian who had only made a handful of substitute appearances for the team, scored four minutes into his first start, drilling home for the lead.
Leon Goretzka doubled the advantage nine minutes later with the hosts quickly taking full control of the game.
Bryan Zaragoza also thought he had netted on his first league start for the Bavarians, but the 22-year-old Spaniard's effort was disallowed for offside.
The hosts took their foot off the gas with Tuchel's Bayern career coming to an end next week, a year earlier than his contract, after a disappointing domestic campaign that also included a German Cup exit to third-tier club Saarbruecken.
Data Debrief: Clean sheet for Neuer on landmark outing
Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made his 500th Bundesliga appearance, 156 of those having come for Schalke and 344 for his current side.
The veteran stopper had two saves to make en route to becoming the fourth goalkeeper in Bundesliga history to reach that 500 mark, after Oliver Kahn (557), Eike Immel (534) and Uli Stein (512).
Paris Saint-Germain 1-3 Toulouse: Visitors spoil Ligue 1 champions party
Paris Saint-Germain were stunned in a 3-1 home defeat by Toulouse on Sunday, as the newly-crowned champions suffered only their second loss in Ligue 1 this season.
Luis Enrique's side struggled for form after their midweek Champions League semi-final loss to Borussia Dortmund, falling again at home to remain on 70 points from 32 games, six clear of second-placed Monaco.
Kylian Mbappe, who confirmed on Friday that he will leave PSG at the end of the season, opened the scoring after eight minutes with a fine finish into an open goal following a pinpoint pass from goalkeeper Arnau Tenas.
Toulouse equalised five minutes later through Thijs Dalling, who coolly slotted home from close range before Yann Gboho put the visitors ahead with a superb curling effort into the top right corner in the 68th minute.
Frank Magri's stoppage-time strike sealed the win for Toulouse, who are 10th in the standings with 43 points.
Data Debrief: PSG’s defensive problems
PSG have now gone 11 home games without a clean sheet in Ligue 1, equalling their longest such run in their history in the top flight (also 11 in October 1978-May 1979).
Having suffered an unexpected defeat here, PSG also missed the chance to match their second-longest unbeaten run in the league (27 between August 1993 and April 1994), behind the 36 across March 2015 and February 2016.
'I don't stop' – Simeone focused after bringing up 400 Atletico wins with Celta triumph
Diego Simeone is refusing to relent in his pursuit with Atletico Madrid after bringing up 400 wins during his managerial tenure at the club.
Atletico needed a late stunner from Rodrigo De Paul to edge past Celta Vigo on Sunday, keeping them on course for Champions League qualification.
Simeone's side would secure a top-four spot in LaLiga if they beat Getafe on Wednesday.
That remains Simeone's firm focus, rather than celebrating personal achievements.
The Atletico boss told reporters: "I don't stop. I know what I want, I know what I'm looking for, I know where the path is.
"I will continue pushing until the last day I am here.
"We will continue game by game until the end, and then we will analyse well what needs to be assessed."
Though not accepting any personal praise, Simeone lauded the support of Atletico's fans after another positive season in the Spanish capital.
"The unconditional support we have with our people," he added. "What is happening this season, our strength at home that is repeated and repeated, and repeated…
"It is not only because of what we can give. There is a passion that is extraordinary, unbeatable in that sense.
"It makes us play with a plus. It exists, it is seen, I hope we can continue repeating it for a long time"
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