England captain Kane leads Tottenham trio in England squad best rated XI
With England back in action for the first time since the 2022 World Cup, attention turns to Euro 2024 qualification as they kick off their campaign with Italy tonight. Here, we take a look at the best rated XI available to Gareth Southgate of those in the squad, with Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City all represented.
The best rated goalkeeper in the England squad is Fraser Forster, with a WhoScored rating of 6.74 in the Premier League this season. Nick Pope would make his way into this XI comfortably, but following his withdrawal from the squad, the Tottenham shotstopper takes his place. He is making more saves per 90 (2.9) than both Nick Pope (2.4), and Aaron Ramsdale (2.4) and while he is not Gareth Southgate’s number one, with just six caps to his name, he does have a slightly higher rating in the Premier League than Jordan Pickford.
The first outfield player in the XI, and the highest rated player in the team, Kieran Trippier makes the right-back spot with a WhoScored rating of 7.54. He has started all 26 of Newcastle’s Premier League games this season, contributing with a goal and five assists. 73 key passes is second only to Kevin De Bruyne, and the third most in Europe’s top five leagues. At the 2022 World Cup, he started two games before losing his place to Kyle Walker in the build up to the knockout rounds.
Unlike Trippier, John Stones played all five games at the 2022 World Cup. He has the best pass success rate (93.5%) of players to have made more than 15 Premier League appearances this season, and while he has made just 14 starts for the Cityzens, but has done enough to earn a spot in the team, commanding a 6.76 WhoScored rating.
The Tottenham defender makes up the second centre-back spot, with Dier returning a 6.79 WhoScored rating. He has made 25 starts for Tottenham, scoring twice, and is third in the league for the most successful passes in his own half, but only featured from the bench at the World Cup, coming on against Iran and Senegal.
Rounding off the backline, Luke Shaw makes his way into the best rated England XI, with a WhoScored rating of 6.91, which is in the top three of Manchester United players, and is second for key passes (27) in the United squad this season. He started all five of England’s World Cup games and has been the first choice left-back for Manchester United this season. He’s scored a single goal and contributed with two assists for Erik ten Hag’s team.
Moving into the midfield, we find Bukayo Saka, who has been very impressive this season. The Arsenal star is the first player to reach double figures for both goals (12) and assists (10) this campaign and his WhoScored rating of 7.50 highlights just how he has progressed as a player. He has also made the most successful dribbles in the league with 46, just ahead of Wilfred Zaha (45) and Arsenal teammate Gabriel Martinelli (43). At the World Cup, he scored three goals in four appearances, level with Marcus Rashford, and was also England’s highest rated player with a 7.68 rating for the tournament.
Jude Bellingham - Borussia Dortmund
The wonderkid from Birmingham plying his trade in Dortmund makes the midfield of England’s best rated XI, also joining Saka with a WhoScored rating of 7.50. He scored the opener in England’s first game against Iran and has played seven Champions League games for Dortmund, scoring four goals in those games. He has earned the joint most WhoScored man of the match awards (6), as well as the third most dribbles attempted (100) and third most passes in the opposition half (788) in the Bundesliga this season. Bellingham is more than likely to add to his impressive 22 caps this month, with another major tournament in Euro 2024 on the horizon for the teenager to take part in.
The man many thought wouldn’t make it to Qatar with England, James Maddison makes up the second central midfield slot of this XI. His WhoScored rating of 7.30 for a lowly Leicester side is impressive, and they have been much better with Maddison in the side. He has 15 goal contributions (nine goals, six assists) this season in just 19 appearances, highlighting how influential he has been. Two of those were from direct free-kicks, where he is second to only set-piece specialist James Ward-Prowse (3).
Jack Grealish - Manchester City
Jack Grealish didn’t set the world alight in his first season at Manchester City, but has come up with some impressive performances when it mattered. He scored against both Arsenal and Manchester United this season to boost his goal tally to three. For Southgate, he came off the bench in all five games England played, scoring a single goal against Iran. His WhoScored rating of 7.20 is still enough to get into the side following Marcus Rashford’s withdrawal from the squad.
England captain Harry Kane, with a WhoScored rating of 7.49, is the first of two strikers to make the team having scored 21 league goals this campaign for Tottenham. Kane has had the most shots on target and his aerial threat is clear, with nine headed goals this season, four ahead of second placed Erling Haaland. For England at the World Cup, many will want to forget the penalty he skied over the crossbar, but he has the opportunity to become England’s all-time record goalscorer, having been level with Wayne Rooney on 53 goals scored since that quarter-final defeat to France.
Yet to make his England debut, Ivan Toney joins Kane up front with a WhoScored rating of 7.30. He was unfortunate to miss out on the World Cup squad, but will finally get his chance to shine for the Three Lions. His 16 league goals this season, of which 14 were inside the box, is only bettered by Kane and Erling Haaland, and he will hope to make his mark against either Italy or Ukraine in England’s upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers. Additionally, the Brentford striker's 100% record from five penalties this season might give him an edge over other strikers in future tournaments.
