The EURO is just around the corner and on Tuesday there will some broken hearts in the England camp as Gareth Southgate is set to announce his 26-man squad for the tournament.
The final England squad will be announced at 5 pm on Tuesday, following which the Three Lions boss will be holding a press conference.
England had already announced a 33-man provisional squad and now Southgate must cut it down to 26(three more than the normal cut-off considering the fact that players could miss out due to COVID-19).
The manager had named seven midfielders in his provisional squad but he is going to take only five of them to the EURO. This means two of them are set to miss out.
The midfielders included in the 33-man squad are: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (West Ham United/Manchester United), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), Declan Rice (West Ham United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
Players like Mason Mount and Jude Bellingham have been wonderful this season and they are almost certain to make the final cut for the Euros. According to the latest updates, the five midfielders who are going to make the 26-man squad for England are as follows:
MF: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
MF: Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
MF: Mason Mount (Chelsea)
MF: Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United)
MF: Declan Rice (West Ham United)
If these reports are true then someone like Jordan Henderson who has not played any competitive football in the last few months is set to feature for England in the EURO but Jesse Lingard, a player who has been at the top of his game during the second half of the season will have to watch the European Championship from home.
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Going by this report, Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse is also going to miss out, despite having a pretty good Premier League season with the Saints.
Obviously, these are just the initial rumours and the final squad will only be known later in the day but these reports are giving the impression that the manager is clearly tightening up the defensive areas instead of focusing on the midfield region.
But having said all this, both Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips have fitness concerns so it will not be a total surprise if the England manager opts to keep them out.
