It shouldn’t really come as too much of a surprise that Gareth Southgate has gone with his tried and test players for England’s Euro2024 qualifier against Italy on Tuesday evening.
The Three Lions will be expected to win the fixture at Wembley which would guarantee their passage to the finals next summer.
One glaring omission is that of Chelsea’s Levi Colwill, though Southgate clearly feels the youngster needs more club experience before he can consider making him a starter for his country.
Harry Maguire therefore partners John Stones at the back and the Man United centre-back has it all to prove, to himself, to the supporters and to Erik ten Hag.
If the defender is able to produce a top-level defensive performance, it just sends a message in the Dutchman’s direction that he’s not finished just yet, he’s perhaps just lacking a little confidence.
Either side of the central defenders are Newcastle’s in-form Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker, with a midfield of Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Jude Bellingham.
Harry Kane captains the side as always, and he’ll be flanked by the Manchester duo of Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden.
Jordan Pickford keeps his place in between the sticks against a side who’ve scored in all of their international fixtures in 2023.