Provisional World Cup squads are expected this week, and Gareth Southgate – despite a few late injury headaches – is likely to have already nailed down the majority of his England group.
There do remain some question marks, however, and perhaps none are more prominent than in attack, where Harry Kane is the established starter but the role of back-up has been shared among an ever-changing cast.
Since Russia 2018, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ollie Watkins, Callum Wilson and Danny Ings have all played and scored for England. But either form or fitness has deserted each of them.
That would appear to leave three contenders in Tammy Abraham, whose Roma place is no longer assured, Ivan Toney, the recent call-up yet to make his international debut, and Marcus Rashford.
Abraham and Toney were each included in Southgate's latest England squad, although neither featured in games against Italy and Germany where the Three Lions needed goals. Meanwhile, injury robbed Rashford of the opportunity to re-establish himself in the group.
At one stage, Rashford was assured of his place in every international squad, if not necessarily every team.
The Manchester United man has earned 46 caps for England, and all but three of those have come since Southgate's September 2016 appointment.
However, for all those accusations of Southgate defying club form to pick his 'favourites', Rashford has been punished for below-par displays for United, having scored a measly five goals in 32 games last season.
Rashford's last action for England was his missed penalty in the Euro 2020 final against Italy after appearing as a substitute for the final minute of extra time at Wembley. He has not started for his country since before that tournament.
But the 24-year-old has rediscovered something approaching his best form this season, netting five goals and assisting three in 11 matches for United. Rashford is far outperforming Abraham (two goals and one assist in 13 matches) in that regard, although he still trails flavour-of-the-month Toney (eight goals and three assists in 11 matches).
Toney's case is clear then – except Southgate is not looking for a forward to come in and lead the line against Iran on November 21.
Only Jordan Pickford (14 starts, 1,380 minutes) and John Stones (14 starts, 1,324 minutes) have started more matches or played more minutes for Southgate at major tournaments than Kane (13 starts, 1,222 minutes).
Assuming no injury to Kane that would alter the entire conversation, Rashford is auditioning for the position of primary attacking reinforcement – one he has filled twice for Southgate in the past.
Across the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020, no England player made more appearances (10) or played more minutes (205) as a substitute than Rashford.
In 63 minutes from the bench for United this season, Rashford has scored two goals and assisted another. Abraham has yet to contribute to a goal in 91 such minutes for Roma, while Toney has a sole assist in 18 minutes.
As illness reduced Rashford to a substitute role against Newcastle United on Sunday, he showed how dangerous his hard running can prove late in matches.
Both he and Fred passed up huge chances, but only Casemiro (0.45 – 0.01 xG, 0.44 xA) produced more combined expected goals and expected assists in the whole match than Rashford (0.43 – 0.31 xG, 0.12 xA) did in an 18-minute cameo against the Premier League's meanest defence.
On that occasion, Rashford was appearing, as he would in place of Kane, as a centre-forward after being brought on for Cristiano Ronaldo. But his versatility is a key attribute Toney does not possess.
For United this season, five of Rashford's nine starts have come as a lone striker, with the other four as a left-sided winger.
Longer term, his starts through the middle have been far less regular. Rashford's 21 England starts have included 10 from the left, three from the right and eight as a central striker. Of those eight, seven have been as part of a forward pair.
His sole appearance in a Three Lions line-up in the sort of role Kane is used to was in a 3-1 Nations League Finals defeat to the Netherlands, in which Rashford was replaced by Kane at half-time after opening the scoring.
If England are in need of a spark in Qatar – whether from the start or as a substitute – Southgate is likely to turn to a player who can complement Kane rather than replace him, perhaps explaining the watching briefs for Abraham and Toney in September.
Importantly, Rashford has previously supported Kane to good effect, most notably in a 3-2 win against Spain in October 2018, when Kane teed up Rashford for the second goal and the pair each provided a further assist for Raheem Sterling, who is also set to start again at the World Cup.
As Kane and Tottenham visit Old Trafford on Wednesday for the pick of the midweek Premier League action, Rashford will no doubt hope to be restored to the United XI ahead of Ronaldo.
But were he to instead play from the left or come on for the veteran forward later in the match, the England hopeful might provide Southgate a more accurate representation of what he could expect if selected next month.
Arsenal qualifying for Champions League quarter-finals feels 'surreal', says Slegers
Renee Slegers says it feels "surreal" that Arsenal have secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with two games to spare.
The Gunners will finish at least second in Group C after Lina Hurtig's late strike secured a 1-0 win over Juventus on Thursday.
What looked to be a frustrating encounter was turned around by Slegers' substitutions, and after missing a glorious chance, Hurtig was eventually the difference at the Emirates.
Arsenal created 3.69 expected goals (xG) from their nine shots, getting three on target, compared to just 0.5 for Juventus, who tested Daphne van Domselaar the same amount of times.
Slegers was impressed by her side's resilience as they pushed to come away with all three points.
"It's surreal to be honest," Slegers said post-match. "I never felt we would get into this situation. We have done really well.
"I was part of Jonas [Eidevall's] staff and there was so much that was built during his time. I don't want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It's surreal in so many ways but we are very happy.
"I'm just happy for the team to win. Obviously, we have amazing depth in the squad, and we know anyone can do it for us - whether it's starting players or finishing players.
"It's the visualisation of how much everyone contributes in the team. I think that's what it means for us."
Slegers took over as interim manager following Jonas Eidevall's departure last month and has gone unbeaten in her first seven games, winning six and drawing one.
They have won each of their last five in all competitions, and have not conceded a goal in their previous four matches.
"It was just a very impressive block of the team," Slegers said. "We conceded only one goal during this whole block, so defensively very solid.
"The players have been stepping up big time, they've been owning this; we tried to relay it back to them all the time, so giving them the ownership.
"I'm just very happy with how the block has been, different challenges along the way, so all games have asked something different from us. We've responded to that really well, sticking to our identity but also playing the game that's ahead of us."
Arsenal qualifying for Champions League quarter-finals feel surreal, says Slegers
Renee Slegers says it feels "surreal" that Arsenal have secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with two games to spare.
The Gunners will finish at least second in Group C after Lina Hurtig's late strike secured a 1-0 win over Juventus on Thursday.
What looked to be a frustrating encounter was turned around by Slegers' substitutions, and after missing a glorious chance, Hurtig was eventually the difference at the Emirates.
Arsenal created 3.69 expected goals (xG) from their nine shots, getting three on target, compared to just 0.5 for Juventus, who tested Daphne van Domselaar the same amount of times.
Slegers was impressed by her side's resilience as they pushed to come away with all three points.
"It's surreal to be honest," Slegers said post-match. "I never felt we would get into this situation. We have done really well.
"I was part of Jonas [Eidevall's] staff and there was so much that was built during his time. I don't want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It's surreal in so many ways but we are very happy.
"I'm just happy for the team to win. Obviously, we have amazing depth in the squad, and we know anyone can do it for us - whether it's starting players or finishing players.
"It's the visualisation of how much everyone contributes in the team. I think that's what it means for us."
Slegers took over as interim manager following Jonas Eidevall's departure last month and has gone unbeaten in her first seven games, winning six and drawing one.
They have won each of their last five in all competitions, and have not conceded a goal in their previous four matches.
"It was just a very impressive block of the team," Slegers said. "We conceded only one goal during this whole block, so defensively very solid.
"The players have been stepping up big time, they've been owning this; we tried to relay it back to them all the time, so giving them the ownership.
"I'm just very happy with how the block has been, different challenges along the way, so all games have asked something different from us. We've responded to that really well, sticking to our identity but also playing the game that's ahead of us."
Gravenberch ready to show off Liverpool form ‘to the world’, says Gakpo
Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo expressed his pride in seeing compatriot Ryan Gravenberch show off his qualities ‘to the whole world’ after a fine start to the Premier League season.
Though the Netherlands pair did not become teammates at Liverpool until late summer of 2023, Gakpo knew well Gravenberch’s talents from their respective Eredivisie spells with PSV Eindhoven and Ajax.
Now in his second season at Anfield, Gravenberch has drawn widespread plaudits for his form in a new deeper-lying midfield role under new head coach Arne Slot, having largely been used as a substitute under Jurgen Klopp.
Gravenberch is the only midfielder in Europe's big-five leagues to both make 30+ tackles (30) and 30+ interceptions (33) in all competitions this season, and Gakpo insisted that his Netherlands team-mate can continue to go from strength to strength, starting against Southampton this Sunday.
“We [the Dutchmen at Liverpool] knew Ryan already from the Eredivisie when he played at Ajax, and I think everybody knew already that he is this good,” Gakpo recently told Men in Blazers.
“After that, he made a move to Bayern Munich, and maybe he didn’t play that much over there, but still everybody in Holland knew how good he could be when he was playing.
“And I think maybe the manager [Slot] also knew this. At the beginning of the season, he put him in a slightly different position, but he gave him the confidence to play there.
“Ryan showed his quality in that position, grabbed his chance as well and turned out to be a good match. He is playing outstandingly for us this season.
“I’m very happy that we can see Ryan, as we Dutchmen already knew, but now he can show it to the whole world. I’m very proud of him.”
Southampton, meanwhile, welcome the Reds to St. Mary’s on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Wolves ahead of the international break, leaving them bottom of the table after 11 games of the season.
The Saints are the lowest scorers in the Premier League this season (seven), while only Crystal Palace (5.1%) have a lower shot conversion rate than Russell Martin’s side (6.2%). Just 30.1% of Southampton’s shots have been on target this term (34/113), a league-low ratio.
However, the Southampton head coach is relishing the opportunity of facing Liverpool, with his players performing well against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City already this term.
"I'm really excited about Sunday. We're playing the best team in the country at the moment, on their current form and what they have been doing with their manager, built on an incredible foundation from the previous manager, so I'm really looking forward to it,” Martin said.
"I think we showed the guys the Premier League table last season and how much it changed by the end and by the end of December. But it's honestly such an exciting month.
"People talk about the difficulty of the game and every competition we face in the next four or five games, but it's what we all worked so hard for. We should be excited about the challenge.
“I think teams have shown in the last few weeks that you can pick up big results against big teams, good opposition, and we are going to have to. Our level of performance against teams at the top end of the table has been good on the whole."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Southampton – Mateus Fernandes
Fernandes has become a mainstay in the Southampton team, starting the last eight Premier League games in a row, and has been one of Martin’s standout performers in a lacklustre start to the campaign.
In the Saints’ 2-0 defeat to Wolves last time out, the Portuguese contributed a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 0.22 from his three shots, while only Yukinari Sugawara (10) and Flynn Downes (12) have created more chances in the top-flight than Fernandes (eight) this season.
Liverpool – Mohamed Salah
Salah has both scored and assisted in the same match 35 times in the Premier League (including four already this term), just one shy of Wayne Rooney’s record of 36 games with both a goal and an assist in the competition. The Egyptian has been directly involved in 11 goals (seven goals, four assists) in 11 Premier League appearances against Southampton.
He has also been directly involved in 67% of Liverpool’s Premier League goals this season (14/21 – eight goals, six assists), the highest ratio by a player for any side in the division in 2024-25. Indeed, only Matt Le Tissier for Southampton in 1993-94 (69% - 34/49) has scored or assisted a higher proportion of a side’s goals in a single season in the competition.
MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN
Liverpool have won nine of their 11 Premier League games under new head coach Slot (D1 L1). A win over Southampton will see the Dutchman become the joint-fastest manager to reach 10 wins from the start of a Premier League career (12 games), alongside Guus Hiddink in May 2009 and Carlo Ancelotti in November 2009 (both with Chelsea).
The Reds’ last Premier League game against the Saints was a 4-4 away draw in May 2023 – they conceded as many goals in that game as they had in their previous six visits to St Mary’s combined.
Southampton have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool (D3 L10), a 1-0 home victory in January 2021.
This will also be the first Premier League match between the side starting the day bottom of the table and the side starting the day top since April 2023, and Southampton’s 3-3 draw away to Arsenal. The league leaders are unbeaten in 14 such matches (W12 D2) since Wolves won 2-1 against Manchester United in February 2011.
However, Southampton have only lost one of their last eight Premier League home games against sides starting the day at the summit (W2 D5) and are unbeaten in their last four (W2 D2 – including a 1-0 win over Liverpool in January 2021) since a 0-1 defeat to Man City in May 2018.
But Martin’s side have lost nine of their 11 Premier League games this season (W1 D1). Only seven sides in English top-flight history have reached 10 defeats in 12 or fewer matches from the start of a campaign, with all seven going on to be relegated.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Southampton – 9.7%
Draw – 12.6%
Liverpool – 77.7%
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