Watch: Foden and Kane England Euro 2020 struggles highlighted
As England gear up for their final game of Group D, the Three Lions were on the receiving end of some stinging criticism following their 0-0 draw with Scotland. The Tartan Army were arguaby the better side at Wembley over the 90 minutes, restricting England to just one shot on target, and it saw England fans go into a frenzy over what was a poor performance by their standards.
They have the chance to make amends against the Czech Republic tonight, but then would England even want to defeat the Group D leaders to finish first? While winning breeds confidence, victory over Czech Republic would set up a likely last-16 meeting with France, Germany or Portugal, whereas finishing second or third would present England with an easier path to the quarter-finals.
The issue for Southgate now is whether he remains loyal to the core players at his disposal or makes changes for the Czech Republic game. Nine players have started both games at Euro 2020 and after a poor showing on Friday night, fans are calling for Southgate to switch things up to bring out the best in his star men.
Mason Mount (7.38) is England's highest rated player at Euro 2020 and while Southgate would have ideally kept faith in the Chelsea man, both Mount and club teammate Ben Chilwell must now self-isolate until next Tuesday after coming into close contact with Scotland's Billy Gilmour, who on Monday tested positive for COVID-19.
Centre-back John Stones (7.15) ranks second for England this summer, with Kalvin Phillips and Tyrone Mings (both 7.11) rounding off the four players who have averaged at least a 7.00 over both Euro 2020 outings. However, the latter duo are tipped to drop out of the side tonight with Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire both expected to make their first appearance at Euro 2020 tonight.
England have been solid defensively - they are one of three teams yet to concede at the tournament - but in the final third, they have been poor. Only group rivals Scotland (0) have scored fewer goals than England (1) this summer with Phil Foden (6.35) and Harry Kane (6.23) both ranking eighth and ninth of England's best rated players of those nine to start both games to highlight their struggles.
Jack Grealish, who is one of Foden's rivals for a spot in the starting XI, has a better WhoScored rating in 27 minutes (6.57) than the Manchester City man as calls for the former grow louder with each passing minute at Euro 2020. In a damning indictment for Kane, Jude Bellingam has a better WhoScored rating this summer (6.27) despite registering just eight minutes of action for the Three Lions.
In the latest episode of Edge of the Box, we discussed England's best rated players at Euro 2020 so far in our preview for Czech Republic vs England and the problems surrounding Kane, Bruno Fernandes and Karim Benzema as the group stages come to a head.
