ANDERTON PRESSING HOME ENGLAND CLAIMS
And, as the Opta Index shows, on current form he is certainly in with a shout.
Anderton notched the opener at St James' Park (which may yet be taken away from him by the dubious goals committee) and provided a pinpoint delivery onto the head of Gustavo Poyet for the clinching second goal, his display prompting his manager and former England coach Glenn Hoddle to declare: "He's going to be there or thereabouts for England.
"Darren's even good enough to play on that left side, he's done it for England before. Good players can play in any position."
And the versatile former Portsmouth midfielder is undoubtedly a good player, who has benefited this season from an, as yet, injury-free run of ten straight Premiership matches - equalling his longest uninterrupted sequence in the team in last year's league campaign.
While Anderton's perfectly flighted cross for Poyet's goal was his first assist of the season, his delivery has been consistently good this term, both from the flanks and in the more central areas of the pitch.
The 29-year-old has found a colleague with 33% of his crosses, which is a clear seven percentage points better than the league average and a significant improvement on last term.
Anderton is also admired for his range of passing and has demonstrated his skills to great effect in the 2001-02 Premiership. The Tottenham man has connected with 151 passes over 25 yards in length - the highest tally of any of his top-flight rivals - representing an excellent 73% of all such passes finding their intended target.
He also provides a vital link between the midfield and the attack with his clever, incisive play in the final third of the pitch. Opta's evidence bears this fact out - Anderton has connected with 70% of his attempted passes in the attacking third of the pitch, with his tally of 148 balls to a colleague in this area comfortably the best of any Englishman in the Premiership.
A veteran of England's Euro 96 and France 98 campaigns, Anderton is no stranger to the major tournaments and has nearly always done himself justice on the biggest stages. He has shown in the past that he can raise his game when the occasion calls for it and Eriksson will have seen the Spurs winger in action against some of the world's best sides.
The question is whether Anderton has regained the form that made him a favourite of Terry Venables and Hoddle when they were at the helm. Certainly he has started off this season promisingly enough, but with eight months to go to the World Cup, there is plenty of football to be played and competition for places will be hotting up.
As things stand though, Anderton's hat is in the ring and Eriksson has another option to consider.
