Will Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge start up front or will Manchester United man Danny Welbeck get the nod?
Here is our predicted line-up for England’s friendly with Holland at Wembley tomorrow night.
Hart
Johnson-Cahill-Jones-Baines
Young-Parker-Gerrard-Milner-Johnson
Sturridge
The first thing to consider is whether England will line-up with a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1.
While you may ask, its just a friendly play 4-4-2, England need to start getting prepared for tournament football, and not playing with five in midfield was their downfall in South Africa.
In goal, Hart’s number one spot is undisputed. But picking the defence is where it usually gets tricky.
At right-back it is a straight battle between Glen Johnson and the recalled Micah Richards, after Kyle Walker pulled out.
We would like to see Richards start, but we predict both will get 45 minutes each, with Johnson starting the match.
There are limited centre-backs available to choose from, and we predict Cahill and Jones will start, with Chris Smalling on the bench.
Leighton Baines at left-back would be good to see ahead of Ashley Cole, Stuart Pearce has said he would learn little from watching Lampard or Ferdinand play, so why start Cole?
Assuming England play five in midfield, Ashley Young will be a shoe-in on the left, and newly voted England fans player of the year Scott Parker will start in midfield.
It is likely that Steven Gerrard will be in there too, as captain, with James Milner taking up the third central position.
This leaves one wide spot which could be filled by Stewart Downing, Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson.
Walcott will certainly play some role tomorrow night, but we predict Johnson may start.
He has just started three consecutive games for City for the first time and this would be another great chance for him to stake his Euro 2012 claim.
Up front Wayne Rooney and Darren Bent have pulled out, meaning the starting spot is between Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and surprise pick Frazier Campbell.
Sturridge and Welbeck both featured under Pearce in the under-21s, and it is difficult to predict which one he may go with, but we have an inkling it may be the Chelsea man.
What would your starting XI look like for tomorrow?
image: © philosophy football
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