England manager Gareth Southgate was hopefully watching tonight’s draw between Crystal Palace and Manchester City, as a number of rising stars shone.
Ignoring the potentially massive implications the result has on the title race between Man City and Liverpool, this game shed light on an important subject for the England national team.
Central defence has been an issue for the Three Lions under Southgate, with only a couple of defenders being considered as top international quality.
However, this season a number of new prospects have emerged which could turn the tide in this regard.
Former Chelsea star Marc Guehi has come to life under Patrick Viera at new look Crystal Palace. 
The 21-year-old helped marshal a clean sheet against one of the deadliest attacking teams in world football not just once but twice this season. And his stats throughout the two games, and his consistency throughout the rest of the season, prove why he should be given an England call-up.
A remarkable 14 clearances and winning 100% of his eight duels across both games mark him out as one of the most in-form defenders England have at the moment.
Crystal Palace is the only Premier League team that kept a clean sheet against Manchester City twice.
Marc Guéhi made 14 clearances and won every single duel (8/8) in these two games.
Beast mode. pic.twitter.com/yhENgssxyt
— Football Talent Scout – Jacek Kulig (@FTalentScout) March 14, 2022
Southgate announces his next squad on March 17, and if he was watching tonight he should know that Guehi is more than deserving of a call-up than some of the more senior players in the England camp who are either in poor form or who are only strong in a back three.
However, it will be a tough ask to include all the inform English defenders such as Fikayo Tomori, Ben White and Max Kilman without cutting some of his more trusted players from the mix. But that is exactly what friendlies are for.