Luke's Football blog

England have two games this break, with Southgate looking to keep up the good form his team is currently on with 4 wins already on the board, leaving them a good chance of qualifying for the Euros in Germany.

The first game is against Ukraine on Saturday, September 9th. The game will be played in Poland, as it isn’t safe to play football in Ukraine at the moment.

This will be an even game, with both sides currently first and second in their euro qualification groups and are looking to make it to the Euros in June, where they could possibly play each other again.

The second game is a friendly against Scotland at Hampden Park for the 150th anniversary match, which marks the first meeting between the two countries back in 1872. This is bound to be a good game with a roaring atmosphere.

Both sides are currently top of their euro qualifying groups, with Scotland winning their last four games to top their qualifying group, putting them in good contention to qualify for the Euros for the second time in a row.

This game will be a memorable occasion and a chance for both countries to try out some of their new talent that has been coming through the ranks.

New Arrivals

England have called up two new players who were on the cusp of England squads in the past, but now they have both been given a chance to show what they are made of.

Levi Colwill was training with the last England squad after a breakout season on loan at Brighton before playing for the England under 21s at the Euros, where they went on to win the whole thing.

He has experience training with the England first-team squad, so that will help him a lot, and hopefully we will see him get a chance to play in the upcoming fixtures.

His start to the season has been good, forming a solid partnership with Axel Disasi and Thiago Silva. While Chelsea haven’t been good, he has been one of the shining stars this season, showing his good defensive capabilities, and he will have a good future ahead of him.

The second new arrival is Eddie Nketiah, someone who again was on the cusp of an England call-up in the past, but sadly that never materialised. He is the all-time leading scorer for the under-21 side, proving he can do it on the international stage, but can he make the step up and shine?

His start to the season has been good, chipping in with two goals against Fulham and Nottingham Forest, showing he can lead the line well for his side, which is the main reason he was selected by Gareth.

He faces competition, though, with Harry Kane and Callum Wilson also in the squad, so he may get his chance off the bench in the next couple of games to show what he can add to Gareth Southgate’s young generation of talent.

Controversial Choices

Southgate is notorious for picking players based on merit rather than current form, which is the wrong thing to do because there are people who aren’t in this squad who deserve a place more than others.

Harry Maguire is usually a dependable player for England, but he shouldn’t be in the squad because of his past. I see the reasoning in picking him in that he provides experience, and with Stones out, the England centre-back ranks do lack experience, but he shouldn’t be given a place since he has had barely any playing minutes, whereas players like Ezri Konsa have played so well yet he didn’t get a call-up.

Another controversial pick from Southgate is Jordan Henderson, who is currently playing in Saudi Arabia. While, like Maguire, he’s one of the most experienced players currently in the squad, I feel like he should be playing in a more competitive league to be chosen for the England squad, especially with the talent coming through at the moment in his position.

Another pick that raised eyebrows was the selection of Kalvin Phillips, as like Maguire, he has had limited game time for his club side, which doesn’t warrant him a place in the squad at the moment, especially with others in his position performing week in and week out.

You have got to feel for the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Jared Bowen, and Ezri Konsa, three players who are performing well at the moment but can’t even get a place in the England squad, even though they deserve it based on form. Hopefully, they will get the chance soon to show they deserve a place in Gareth’s squad.

Injury Report

Trent Alexander Arnold and Jack Grealish recently withdrew from this camp with suspected injuries after their games against Fulham and Aston Villa, while John Stones and Luke Shaw are also not in the squad after sustaining injuries.

Fikayo Tomori has come back into the England squad after impressive performances for AC Milan in Italy, with the rest of the squad remaining the same as the last England camp with two new additions.

Gareth will hope to have a much fitter squad to choose from in his next camp in October, with hopefully new additions ready to put their stamp on it and give him a reason to pick them for the Euros in the summer.

Predictions For The Upcoming Games

For the first game, I think it will be quite close, but I reckon England will win 3-1 as they have more firepower in the squad. Ukraine will be a hard opponent to break down, and with the crowd they will have, it will help them, but I think England has more quality to get through it.

For the second game, it will be even like the Ukraine one, as both sides come into it playing good football, and the atmosphere will be electric for the 150th anniversary game at Hampden Park. I reckon it will be a 1-1 draw as both countries are flying at the moment and it will be hard to predict who will win this fixture, so a draw will probably be the correct result.

Hopefully England will keep their good form up to put them as contenders to win the Euros in Germany in the summer, and with the crop of talent currently breaking through, they could be ones to watch in the summer.