Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford have been the two goalscoring standouts for England so far at the World Cup and now Gareth Southgate has to make the decision as to who will carry the Three Lions through in the knockout rounds. Senegal await, and perhaps one of the two stars will miss out.
Saka started the opening two games of the tournament with contrasting performances, whilst Rashford has seen success both from the start against Wales and off the bench against Iran. From an Arsenal perspective, maybe supporters will want Rashford to get the nod in order for the Gunners’ star boy to be rested ahead of the second half of the season.
In reality, form is very important during tournaments. It was for this reason the England head coach didn’t pick former Gunners transfer target Tammy Abraham.
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He said: “Tammy’s had a poor run of scoring form at the wrong time, really and it’s not a case of that we are three or four weeks away from a final and the start of the first match. We are now ten days away, so form could be more important.
“We are watching their club form, but we don’t really know where the players are until we see them face-to-face and until we see them on the training pitch.
“We get regular medical updates from their clubs but there will be medical issues that we are not completely aware of yet.
“We know the form we are seeing in the matches, but even so, you still don’t get the full picture from the players until you are able to speak to them, work with them and see how they train with each other.”
Based on form, both Saka and Rashford have an argument to partner on opposite flanks on Sunday. Phil Foden has come in too and looked much better than Mason Mount.
Harry Kane has turned provider with three assists in three games this World Cup. If Southgate is married to the idea of form, then Mount, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson should be the ones that miss out and Rashford (left) Saka (right) Kane (striker) and Foden (right eight) make the most sense if England want to progress.
However, it has been tricky to see the method in Southgate’s selections throughout his tenure in charge of the national side. Many have criticised his approach as being too ‘negative’ and perhaps expecting the goalscoring and goal-creating quartet to start might be a stretch too far.
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