There weren't many surprises when Gareth Southgate announced his England squad for the World Cup on Thursday afternoon.
The only real curveball the Three Lions boss threw was to include Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, likely at the expense of one of Roma's Tammy Abraham or Brentford's Ivan Toney. By and large, it was a predictable 26-man squad and Southgate is set to follow his tried-and-tested five-at-the-back formula which served him well at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and Euro 2020 last summer.
The former tournament saw England exceed expectations and capture the imagination of the nation with a run to the semi-finals, where they were defeated by Croatia in extra time. Attention quickly turned to whether the Three Lions could go one better in four-and-a-half years' time, or even win the trophy for the first time since 1966.
