Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is set to retain his place in the England midfield for their big World Cup game tomorrow.
The Three Lions take on France in Saturday evening’s quarter final in Doha. And, according to The Mirror, England boss Gareth Southgate will name an unchanged line-up.
That means that Henderson will join Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice in Southgate’s midfield three. Having forced his way back into the starting XI during the tournament, it seems the Liverpool man is now there to stay.
It does mean, unsurprisingly, that Henderson’s Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold will once again start from the bench. You can’t have everything, I guess.
Henderson shows why he’s won the lot
This would represent quite the turnaround for Henderson. The Reds skipper has been out of England’s starting XI for the best part of two years now.
Having played a bit-part at last summer’s run to the European Championship final, he began the World Cup on the bench, too.
But having seen Mason Mount put in some ineffective performances, Southgate has turned to Henderson. It’s a good call from the manager, with the 32-year-old still able to offer so much.
Not only will he lead the team dutifully, hassling and haranguing as always. but he has real quality as well. There’s a reason why he’s been in such a successful Liverpool team for so long since his £20m move. The nation is now starting to see that.
His partnership with Bellingham and Rice is also starting to blossom. As well balanced-a midfield as you’ll see in the whole tournament, they have the ability to dominate France.
As good as the French are, midfield is not currently their strong point. Pundit Ally McCoist said he’d take all of the English midfield over the options that Didier Deschamps has. Coming from a proud Scotsman, that’s a statement to be taken seriously.
Of course, when you’ve got a player as good as Kylian Mbappe, sometimes the midfield battle is irrelevant. The 23-year-old is capable of winning games on his own.
But with Henderson likely to be operating on the right of the middle of the pitch, he’ll do his darndest to stop Mbappe being the deciding factor.
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