Ade Oladipo expects Ben Godfrey to be omitted from England Euro squad
talkSPORT pundit Ade Oladipo claims Everton defender Ben Godfrey will not make England’s 26-man squad for the European Championships next month.
Godfrey’s inclusion comes after an impressive two seasons in the Premier League – first for Norwich and then for the Toffees in the 2020/21 campaign.
The Englishman has been an integral part of Carlo Ancelotti’s setup and one of the primary reasons why the Merseyside outfit were in the hunt for European football until the final day of the season.
He has rightly been merited with a place in Southgate’s provisional squad for the Euros, but Oladipo believes he will be chalked off the list once the final team is announced,
Trying to predict which players Southgate would omit, he said on talkSPORT, “I’ll leave Ben Godfrey for a moment.
“If [Harry] Maguire’s fit, Godfrey’s gone.”
Outlandish
Nobody for a second is claiming that it’s a toss-up between Maguire and Godfrey. The Manchester United captain is sure shot starter for Southgate.
However, the likes of Ben White and Tyrone Mings, both of whom have enjoyed average seasons at best, cannot be going ahead of Godfrey.
If you compare performances of this season, the Everton defender has even been better than Conor Coady. However, the Wolves defender will get the nod because of his experience playing for the national team.
Per 90 minutes this season, Godfrey has averaged more tackles (1.88) compared to the trio. He’s also made the most pressures in the defensive third with 7.95. For context, White is the next best with 5.18. [StatsBomb]
Godfrey also averages the most tackles won plus interceptions per game in comparison to the aforementioned trio.
Defensively, the Everton defender is miles ahead so quite frankly we don’t know where Oladipo is coming from.
He has to be in the final squad, and we’ll be shocked if Southgate omits him for the more experienced yet underperforming defenders.
In other Everton news, ‘They’ll push him off’: Toffees insider claims club ready to listen to offers for first-team ace
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