ALL SYSTEMS GOMEZ!
Joe is back in the Three Lions fold for first time in four years
JOE GOMEZ is set for an England recall today after nearly four years in the international wilderness.
England boss Gareth Southgate will name his last squad ahead of the Euros and is keen to bring the Liverpool star back into the fold.
Gomez has won 11 senior caps with the last coming in October 2020 against Wales, before he got a bad knee injury on England duty the following month.
That has restricted his appearances at Liverpool but he has been a revelation this season, filling in at full-back, centre-half and even in midfield.
Gomez’s form and versatility have caught Southgate’s eye as England are facing injury issues ahead of the Wembley friendlies with Brazil on March 23 and Belgium three days later. This is the last squad before Southgate has to name the 23 players for the Euros this summer.
Those 23 will also have warm-up games with Iceland and Bosnia & Herzegovina in June.
Southgate did not want to have to call up fresh faces or have to experiment as he wanted a settled squad. But the likes of Kieran Trippier, Harry Maguire, Levi Colwill, Luke Shaw, Trent Alexander-arnold, Jack Grealish and Marc Guehi have all been injured.
It is a particular issue in defence and it may see Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell get a call despite him having recent injury issues. Manchester City’s Rico Lewis looks set to keep his place.
There may be a call for Everton’s in-form Jarrad Branthwaite but England have been monitoring Gomez closely and like the fact he can play in different positions.
There are other issues with Jordan Pickford established as England’s
No.1 but Sam Johnstone has just regained his place at Crystal Palace while Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale’s only recent start saw him make a mistake which led to a goal against Brentford.
England have checked on Rangers keeper Jack Butland and he could come in for Ramsdale but Southgate seems likely to stick with the Arsenal keeper.
Central midfield is another dilemma as Kalvin Phillips has struggled during his loan move to West Ham and England have checked on Eric Dier at Bayern Munich. Jordan Henderson looks set to keep his place after his switch to Ajax.
Manchester United prospect Kobbie Mainoo has been in fantastic form but is likely to be with the under-21s and boss Lee Carsley has been watching his progress, which suggests he may not get a senior call until after the Euros. But that will only be a matter of time.
Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins is set to get the nod ahead of Ivan Toney as he is in good form while Cole Palmer is likely to be included after impressing in Chelsea’s win over Newcastle on Monday in front of Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland.
Southgate may name up to 25 players with the squad due to meet up next week at St George’s Park. Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon has been given the all clear after hurting his knee at Chelsea which gives him a call-up chance.