Stan Collymore: Everton star Jordan Pickford to start in England showdown v Senegal
Stan Collymore has backed Everton star Jordan Pickford to once again take the gloves for England when they play Senegal on Sunday (4 December).
The Toffees number one has played all three group-stage matches for Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions at the World Cup so far and with the tournament reaching the knockout phase, his place looks guaranteed.
Collymore, writing for the Sunday People [4 December, page 67] predicted what the starting lineup might look like against the reigning champions of Africa.
“Senegal are not as good as France, who England could well meet in the quarters if all goes as most people expect it will, and that could tempt him to go 4-3-3.
“But I’d make the change to 3-4-3 now and line up this way: Pickford; Walker Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Rice, Bellingham, Shaw; Rashford, Kane, Saka.”
Head and shoulders
As there is with every major tournament England enter, there is a huge amount of debate over each position and who should be playing when the time comes.
Before a ball was kicked in Qatar, Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale was many people’s pick to take the gloves purely because the Gunners are at the top of the Premier League right now.
But individual performances and placings in the Premier League table are two totally different beasts and Pickford has been head and shoulders better than the Arsenal man all season.
Nick Pope is perhaps closer to being the number one choice but given what Pickford has done for the Three Lions in the previous two tournaments cannot be ignored.
Southgate has complete and total faith in the Everton man to step up when the moment comes and for the most part he has done exactly that just as he has at Goodison Park under the past few managers.
This is a brilliant chance to bring football home for the second time in a year so the manager won’t be wanting to change his goalkeeper unnecessarily.