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With the international break almost upon us, England boss Gareth Southgate is expected to name his latest squad this Thursday afternoon. The Three Lions are set to face off against San Marino, Albania, and Poland in the 2022 World Cup 2022 qualifiers.
Most of the usual suspects – Harry Kane, Harry Maguire, Raheem Sterling – are expected to be called up, but could Gareth Southgate also spring some surprises?
With plenty of English players shining during the current season in the Premier League and elsewhere, it’s clear that Southgate has a lot of talent to choose from.
With that in mind, here are five players who could receive a surprising England call-up this week.
#1 Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa - England caps: 0)
Aston Villa have received plenty of plaudits for their defensive strength during the 2020-21 campaign. In fact, Dean Smith’s side have kept more clean sheets – 14 – than any other Premier League side other than Manchester City.
And while praise has been heaped onto goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and current England defender Tyrone Mings, it’s arguable that Villa’s most outstanding defender has been Ezri Konsa.
Still just 23 years old, Konsa – who joined Villa from Brentford in the summer of 2019 – has looked fantastic ever since the 2019-20 season recommenced following the COVID-19 lockdown. And his form in the current campaign has been phenomenal.
Konsa has missed just two of Villa’s Premier League games thus far and has chipped in with two goals. But it’s his defensive attributes that make him stand out.
The Villa man scores highly when it comes to tackles, blocks, and interceptions. His positional awareness is fantastic, as he often seems to find himself in the right place at the right time to stop opposition attacks.
With England crying out for more strength at center-back, Konsa has more than earned a maiden call-up with his form this season.
And by bringing him into the upcoming squad, Gareth Southgate would also keep the Villa man away from the Portugal national side, who have reportedly been looking at him too.
#2 Patrick Bamford (Leeds United - England caps: 0)
One area where Southgate is likely to find himself short when it comes to this squad is in attack.
Captain Harry Kane and Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin are fit. But Southgate will likely have to make do without Tammy Abraham, Jadon Sancho, Danny Ings, and perhaps Marcus Rashford too.
And this could mean that Leeds striker Patrick Bamford moves towards the front of the queue when it comes to looking for a potential backup for Kane.
Bamford has enjoyed an absolutely tremendous debut season in the Premier League with Leeds.
Once seen as a journeyman who struggled in front of goal, he’s been able to score 13 goals in 28 Premier League appearances. Only Kane and Calvert-Lewin are scoring more when it comes to English players.
But Bamford’s game isn’t just centered around his goals. With Leeds playing an extremely fluent attacking style, Bamford is also required to bring his teammates into play. And it comes as no surprise to see that he’s also got five assists to his name.
With Kane now adept at dropping deep to feed England’s wide forwards, replacing him with an out-and-out striker like Calvert-Lewin, who lacks that ability, would always be a risk.
But based on what we’ve seen this season, Bamford certainly has the capability to play in this manner. And so he should definitely be given a chance by Southgate in the upcoming games.
#3 Luke Shaw (Manchester United – England caps: 8)
If England fans were asked to recall their team’s squad for the 2014 World Cup, most of them would probably forget that Luke Shaw – then of Southampton – traveled to Brazil as the backup left-back.
Just 18 years old at the time, Shaw was then seen as the future for England in terms of the left-back spot. But in the years that have followed, injuries and a loss of form have restricted him to just eight caps.
Shaw has not played for England since September 2018’s loss to Spain, but surely it’s time to change that now.
The 2020-21 campaign has seen him perform at a remarkably high level for Manchester United. Shaw appears to have worked heavily on his strength and fitness, and it’s clearly paid off.
He’s appeared in 25 of United’s Premier League games and has scored one goal while also delivering five assists. At times, he's looked unstoppable when he goes forward.
But Shaw has also proven to be a strong defensive left-back, too. He averages highly when it comes to tackles, interceptions, and clearances per game. His recent performance against Manchester City was outstanding too.
With Ben Chilwell not on the best form right now, it seems like a no-brainer to call Shaw back into the England set-up – and to probably install him as the first-choice left-back, too.
#4 Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa – England caps: 0)
With the likes of Jadon Sancho, Danny Ings, Tammy Abraham, and Marcus Rashford likely to miss out on the upcoming games, Gareth Southgate will probably look at bringing in some new attacking talent into his squad.
And one player who could add plenty to the England squad is Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins.
Signed from Brentford in the summer of 2020, how well Watkins would do in the Premier League was always a question mark.
But Watkins has taken to life in the top flight like a duck to water. He’s already scored 10 Premier League goals and registered three assists. He would have had even more strikes were it not for questionable VAR offside calls.
His finishing, admittedly, is not always perfect, but he’s proven that he can score goals against top opponents such as Liverpool and Arsenal.
And more to the point, Watkins’ work-rate as a forward is almost unheard of. No other Premier League striker harasses opposing defenders quite like the Villa striker, who has also not missed a single minute of action this season.
Able to play as a wide forward as well as a central striker, Watkins would offer something different to the likes of Rashford and Raheem Sterling. And so Southgate should give him his chance this month.
#5 Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Manchester United – England caps: 0)
It’s a fact that England have plenty of talent to choose from right now when it comes to right-backs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is well renowned as one of the world’s best in the position, Reece James has done well for Chelsea, and veterans Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier have still been included in recent squads too.
But while some fans have talked up the chances of Matty Cash (Aston Villa) and James Justin (Leicester), it seems baffling that Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka has not been called up yet.
A veteran of the 2019 U-21 European Championship, Wan-Bissaka was called up to the senior England squad that year too, but was forced out with an injury.
Now though, it should definitely be time to call him up again.
He’s enjoyed a great season for the Red Devils again in 2020-21, appearing in 27 Premier League games. He’s scored two goals and registered two assists – showing his attacking play is improving. But it’s defensively where he really shines.
Wan-Bissaka averages 2.9 successful tackles, 1.7 interceptions, and 1.7 clearances per game. Essentially, no other English right-back comes close to those stats.
And it’s not like he can’t pass the ball either, with an average pass success rate of 84.2% being stronger than that of Alexander-Arnold, for instance.
With Southgate still seemingly considering deploying Walker as part of a back three, surely Wan-Bissaka – with his far better tackling skills – would be a better choice for the role than the Manchester City veteran.
It seems ridiculous that a player of this kind of talent hasn’t been capped by England yet – but surely that will change this month.
