Gareth Southgate announces his latest England squad on Thursday - who should be included?
Thursday 3 October 2019 14:07, UK
Gareth Southgate announced his England squad on Thursday for the upcoming European Qualifiers against Czech Republic and Bulgaria - but did the right players make the cut?
Chelsea youngsters Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori have been included but how does Southgate's selection compare to our model? We checked the Sky Sports Power Rankings to see who has excelled in the stats so far and built a squad based purely on form this season...
Missing from the previous England squad are: Jordan Pickford, Tom Heaton, Michael Keane, Danny Rose, Joe Gomez, Tyrone Mings, Jordan Henderson, Ross Barkley, Harry Winks and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Eyebrows were raised when Burnley sanctioned Heaton's move to Aston Villa after six years at the club - but Nick Pope has been waiting in the wings and seized his opportunity - surpassing Heaton in the stats in this term.
In fact, the stats suggest Pope is England's top goalkeeper and Heaton would fail to make the squad, with Bournemouth's Aaron Ramsdale in reserve ahead of Dean Henderson - after the latter's costly error against Liverpool.
Just missed out: Angus Gunn, Pickford and Heaton
Burnley defender James Tarkowski edges his counterparts across a raft of metrics, including 56 duels won this term. Compared with other Premier League centre-backs, only Wolves' Willy Boly has won more.
Chelsea's Fikayo Tomori was born in Canada but has represented England at youth levels and would earn an inaugural senior call-up - boosted by his wonder goal in the 5-2 win at Wolves last month.
Brighton's Dan Burn would also make the squad, having never represented the Three Lions at any level, joining England regular Harry Maguire on the bench.
Just missed out: Lewis Dunk, Steve Cook, Jack O'Connell and Mings
Unsurprisingly, Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold is the first name on the team-sheet at full-back with a league-topping 68 crosses attempted - pipping Atletico Madrid counterpart Kieran Trippier for the starting berth.
Ben Chilwell narrowly ousts Aaron Cresswell at left-back, despite the latter having only played three league games this term, while versatile Burnley defender Matthew Lowton would receive his first call-up at 30-years-old.
Just missed out: Joel Ward, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ryan Fredericks and Kyle Walker
Chelsea's Mason Mount made his senior debut in the 4-0 win over Bulgaria last month and the 20-year-old currently ranks as England's top-performing midfielder.
James Maddison, who missed Leicester's 5-0 win against Newcastle through injury, ranks as the next-best creative force in midfield having featured in Southgate's recent squad - but was an unused substitute during both fixtures.
West Ham's Declan Rice has become a regular since pledging his allegiance to England and would be the third member of a three-man midfield, with Todd Cantwell and Jack Grealish eager to earn debuts from the bench.
Just missed out: Dwight McNeil, John Lundstram, Andros Townsend and James Ward-Prowse
The stats-based forward selections are perhaps most consistent with Southgate's expected squad, with Raheem Sterling narrowly topping the contenders ahead of Jadon Sancho and Tammy Abraham.
Harry Kane would make the squad but start on the bench, alongside Callum WIlson and Marcus Rashford - with the latter only featuring due to Jamie Vardy retiring from international duty.
Just missed out: Danny Ings, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Dominic Solanke and Jay Rodriguez
