England will be without Joe Gomez for tonight’s friendly clash against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley.
The Liverpool defender is feared lost for the remainder of the 2020/21 season after suffering a serious non-contact knee injury during training at St George’s Park on Wednesday.
Gomez is set to undergo scans to determine the severity of the problem, which further deepens Jurgen Klopp’s injury crisis at Anfield.
With the Nations League double-header against Belgium and Iceland to come, Gareth Southgate has named another experimental England team on Thursday for a fixture that was originally supposed to be against New Zealand, who were forced to withdraw last month due to travel and player availability complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Burnley’s Nick Pope gets the nod over Jordan Pickford in goal, while Chelsea right-back Reece James starts as he is suspended for the Three Lions’ next two competitive matches following his red card against Denmark.
Southgate is attempting to solve England’s Mason Mount-Jack Grealish conundrum by playing the duo together in the same XI, while Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka earns his second senior cap.
There could also be a senior international debut off the bench for teenage midfielder Jude Bellingham, who has impressed since joining Borussia Dortmund from Birmingham City over the summer.
The 17-year-old was added to the squad for the first time earlier this week after Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse were both forced to withdraw through injury.
Confirmed England XI (3-4-3): Pope; Keane, Maguire, Mings; James, Mount, Winks, Saka; Sancho, Calvert-Lewin, Grealish
