An intriguing summer of international remains pencilled in on the calendar, with the delayed European Championship set to begin in June. The UEFA tournament was initially due to run last summer, only for the coronavirus pandemic to postpone the competition for a further twelve months. How will the England side change?
Yet with the effects of, and restraints imposed by the pandemic still not in the clear, it remains to be seen whether the new schedule for the tournament will go ahead as planned. Amends have already been made to play the tournament across 12 nations, beginning in Italy, and concluding at London’s Wembley Stadium on July 11.
Nevertheless, assuming the tournament goes ahead as planned, there’s now just months left to go before the exciting event gets underway. For England manager Gareth Southgate, that means only a handful of opportunities remain to assess his players ahead of the all-important squad announcement.
Southgate’s side, who last played against Iceland in November, return to action in the World Cup Qualifying group-stage against San Marino, Albania and Poland next month. He will no doubt look to experiment in those games, offering those on the fringes the last chance to impress ahead of the European Championship.
14 matches remain in the 2020-21 Premier League season, and that means things could still change; but how does England’s pecking order currently look?
England’s goalkeeping trio is not likely to change in a matter of months, but when we return to assess the playing field at the end of the season, will things have changed at all? Let’s take a look at Southgate’s options:
