Gareth Southgate should potentially be starting both Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka for England’s game against Iran today, says Daily Mail’s Sami Mokbel.
Reports surfaced this morning that Saka is set to get the nod to start the match ahead of the Manchester City man, with Sterling on the other wing in support of Harry Kane.
Mokbel, however, has suggested that Sterling could have been the one to miss out given his poor form for his club side, with Foden and Saka both flying for City and Arsenal respectively.
Daily Mail’s Sami Mokbel was speaking as part of Sportsmail and MailPlus’s daily videocast ‘World Cup Confidential’. It appears on MailOnline every morning of the tournament and can be found on our YouTube channel.
‘Since putting the Saka story out last night a lot of my timeline is saying why can’t it be Foden and Saka, why is it Sterling?’ Mokbel began.
‘We know why he is playing, because Gareth Southgate is immensely loyal and Sterling has been such a massive player for England. But given his form, there is an argument to say it should be Saka and Foden supporting Kane.’
Sterling has scored 19 goals in 79 games for England since making his debut in 2012, and started every game of the Three Lions’ run to the final of Euro 2020 last year and five of England’s six games at the 2018 World Cup.
He has however struggled to find form this season for Chelsea, with Foden notching seven goals and three assists so far and Saka four goals and six assists.
Daily Mail columnist Chris Sutton meanwhile backed the call to start Saka, despite admitted he was surprised by the call.
‘I thought Gareth would start Foden ahead of Saka’, he said. ‘But it is hard to argue with that decision with Saka’s form this season, I think it is as simple as that.
‘Having depth in the squad is important but I suppose people will look at Sterling and think his form hasn’t been great and he should have been sacrificed, but there is this issue of loyalty which Gareth always bangs on about, but I think Saka on form this season, it must have been a tough call, I don’t have a problem with that.
The former Blackburn and Celtic forward admitted it was an ‘interesting call’ to play Saka ahead of Manchester City’s Foden, and suggested that perhaps Raheem Sterling’s poor form could see him dropped on Monday.
With both Foden and Saka having played 20 games already this season, the pair are level for goal contributions, with the former managing eight goals and three assists to Saka’s five goals and six assists.
Daily Mail columnist Chris Sutton was speaking as part of Sportsmail and MailPlus’s daily videocast ‘World Cup Confidential’. It appears on MailOnline every morning of the tournament and can be found on our YouTube channel.
‘It’s an interesting call, I though Gareth would start Phil Foden ahead of Saka, but it’s hard to really argue with that decision, with Saka’s form this season. It’s as simple as that.’
‘Having depth within the squad is important but I suppose people will look at Raheem Sterling as well, and think well, “his form hasn’t been great” and maybe he should have been sacrificed.
‘But there’s this issue of loyalty which Gareth always bangs on about, but Saka on form this season – I get the decision.
‘It must have been a difficult call and a close call, but I don’t have a problem with that.’
The City forward had started Southgate’s first game at last summer’s delayed Euro 2020, but he slipped down the pecking order after struggling to make an impact against Croatia and Scotland.
However, Saka emerged as one of the stories of the competition after impressive displays that belied his young age against Germany and Denmark, before missing the decisive penalty in the final against Italy.
And the 21-year-old has been crucial to his side’s unlikely Premier League title challenge, with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal sitting five points clear of Foden’s City by the mid-season break.
Raheem Sterling, on the other hand, has struggled to reproduce his best form for Chelsea since his summer switch from City, managing only five goals and two assists in all competitions.
The Blues man is however far more experienced than either Foden or Saka on the international stage, with 79 caps to their 18 and 20 respectively, as well as 19 goals and Southgate’s constant backing.
With the Three Lions’ tournament opener approaching, Sportsmail have already reported that Saka is in line to pip Foden to a starting spot in Gareth Southgate’s first team in Qatar.
It was also revealed that both Jude Bellingham and Harry Maguire are likely to start the match, with England switching to a 4-3-3 system against Iran.