5 players who could break into the England squad this week

#5: James Maddison

Could Leicester's James Maddison solve England's midfield conundrum?

When England were defeated by Croatia in the World Cup semi-finals this summer, the key point that everyone seemed to agree on was that it was the central midfield area that let the Three Lions down. That was not to say that Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli or Jesse Lingard played badly – more that England simply lacked a player like Luka Modric – someone able to retain the ball, unlock a defence and really make a game tick.

The likes of Phil Foden, Mason Mount and Harry Winks were suggested as players capable of doing that job in the future, but one man who seemed to fly under the radar at that point was James Maddison, who moved from Norwich City to Leicester City in the summer. That was probably due to a lack of Premier League experience, but three games into 2018/19, that’s already changed.

Maddison has arguably been Leicester’s most outstanding player thus far as the Foxes have started strongly, winning 2 games out of 3 and only just coming up short against Manchester United in their single loss. He didn’t look out of place against Paul Pogba and Fred in that game’s midfield duel, and then followed that performance up with his first Leicester goal against Wolves in his next game.

A dead-ball expert who holds onto the ball well and can pick a pass, Maddison’s class showed through last season as he scored 14 goals and made 8 assists for a Norwich side who were hardly outstanding and only finished 14th in the Championship. With midfield spots appearing likely for England – Jordan Henderson and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have only appeared sparingly thus far this season – this could be Maddison’s chance to make a mark if he’s called up.