England had a really disappointing summer, losing the European Championship final to Italy but they must rebuild their focus because they have three crucial games in the World Cup qualifiers coming up.
The Three Lions will play all these matches during the current international break, the first of which will be against Hungary on the 2nd of September.
The English side are currently sitting at the top of the group with nine points but a loss to Hungary will push them down to the second spot. And if Albania manage to win their respective game then they will be breathing down England’s neck.
Gareth Southgate has selected a very strong squad going into the international break but the manager could have some late injury concerns, something which might even force him to tweaks his favoured formations.
The last time these two sides met was back in 2010 in an international friendly and England came out 2-1 winners in that game.
Here it is… your #ThreeLions squad for September! 👊 pic.twitter.com/wwjJEiVGz6
— England (@England) August 26, 2021
England team news vs Hungary:
Jordan Pickford will likely start in front of goal in midweek with Nick Pope as the back-up keeper.
Tyrone Mings has picked up a rib injury and even though he will be reporting for national duty there’s a big doubt over his participation.
As per Sky Sports, the England medical staff will assess him to see if he is ready to feature or not. If Mings is unavailable then Conor Coady will move up the pecking order.
John Stones was on the bench during Man City’s win over Arsenal this past weekend and this selection gave rise to a lot of questions.
Speaking after the match, Pep Guardiola has admitted that the defender had picked up a slight injury but there’s no immediate cause of concern.
The manager said, as quoted by MEN: “John (Stones) arrived late, and after we came back for the second game, he had a problem in his leg, he was injured. And this week was the first week he started training in the week. Rúben (Dias) and Aymeric (Laporte) have played, so it’s good,”
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If Gareth Southgate goes with his 3-4-2-1 system then Kyle Walker will play as a right-sided central defender and Luke Shaw as the left wing-back.
Alexander-Arnold missed the Euros due to an injury but now that he is back, the England boss has a serious selection dilemma. We have a feeling the Liverpool man will get the nod ahead of Reece James.
Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips were the first-choice midfield pair for England during the European Championship and while the manager does have the option of Jordan Henderson, we expect him to stick with the same pair in midweek.
Jesse Lingard has been included in the squad but the Man United man is going to remain on the bench as Mason Mount starts in the more advanced role.
Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling are the two choices to play on the right-hand side of attack but since Saka has not made the best of starts for Arsenal, we think Southgate is going to choose Sterling.
Calvert-Lewin is another key first-team player who has picked up an injury and is a major doubt for the three England games. And with Harry Kane not up to speed yet, chances are Patrick Bamford could get a chance to start against Hungary.
But having said that, Harry Kane played the full 90 minutes against Watford on Sunday so we can’t rule out his selection altogether.
