Gareth Southgate will name an unchanged England XI when his side take on Denmark in their second match at Euro 2024 on Thursday night.
Jude Bellingham’s bullet header secured England’s winning start to the competition against Serbia on Sunday but it was a nervy end to the contest in Gelsenkirchen.
The Three Lions wilted in the second period, inviting pressure from Serbia with Phil Foden in particular coming in for criticism after his subdued performance off the left in attack.
Trent Alexander-Arnold meanwhile was handed a starting role in midfield alongside Declan Rice, with former England internationals Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney among those to question whether or not the Liverpool right-back should be starting in the middle of the park.
Both Foden and Alexander-Arnold will be given another chance to silence their doubters however with the Daily Telegraph reporting Southgate will stick with the same starting XI against the Danes.
Conor Gallagher replaced Alexander-Arnold midway through the second-half against Serbia with Manchester United sensation Kobbie Mainoo also brought on late on to tighten things up in the middle of the park. But Southgate will resist making any changes as England look to secure qualification for the knockout stages of the competition with a win.
Bukayo Saka was replaced by Jarrod Bowen after 76 minutes in the only other change in the Serbia game. The Arsenal star enjoyed a superb first-half before being shackled somewhat later on but is also expected to keep his place.
Expected England starting XI vs Denmark
Cole Palmer, who scored 27 times in his first season at Chelsea, was an unused substitute that night and will likely have to wait until the final group game against Slovenia next Tuesday to get his chance.
Luke Shaw to miss Denmark game
Marc Guehi enjoyed a superb Euros debut as part of a backline that included Kieran Trippier at left-back. The Newcastle United star is deputising for Luke Shaw who will remain unavailable this week.
The Manchester United defender has not played any football since February due to a muscle injury but has been stepping up his return in the England camp. Shaw was back in first-team training last week but moved back to an individual programme on Wednesday with Southgate confirming he will not be involved against the Danes.
‘Luke won’t be involved tomorrow. He’s actually on track for where we thought he would be originally,’ Southgate said in his pre-match press conference. ‘We were hoping a couple of days ago he might accelerate that bit but he needs a bit more volume work.
‘He didn’t train with group today because there are days when he needs to do more than the rest of the group and days when he needs to recover when the others are pushing. He is still in and out from the others but operating on his own programme as well.’
Southgate used to weight of expectation
Having reached the final of the last European Championship, standards and expectations are understandably high for Southgate and his side.
‘I’ve been in this environment for eight years so I understand it all,’ Southgate said. ‘It used to annoy me and now I’m ambivalent to it.
‘Winning matches in tournaments is incredibly hard. In this tournament you’ve now got incredible support for all the teams in the stadiums as well which is a little different to the last two tournaments.
‘We’ve had some good results over the years so maybe even we take results for granted, I should let the boys enjoy it more than they do. I hope they have a little bit longer than me!
‘There should be more joy in it but it’s not my reality if I’m frank. My focus is to get qualified from the group, two tough opponents and two games to achieve that.’
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