England Football Tips: Which of Southgate's fringe players can impress this week?

Though England's trip to Milan this Friday, and their hosting of Germany next Monday will be Gareth Southgate's final opportunity to run the rule over his players, we should be wary to frame these games as auditions for Qatar.

Defeat in Italy will relegate the Three Lions to the second tier in the Nations League and the same conditions will likely apply at Wembley. As our own Max Liu points out, it's do or die right now.

It is fair to assume therefore that Southgate will turn to the familiar this week and play his strongest XIs in both fixtures.

A plethora of injuries and fitness concerns however complicates this thinking, as too does a sustained dip in form from mainstays such as Harry Maguire and Mason Mount.

The former has played just ten competitive minutes since mid-August.

Then we recognise the inclusion of Ivan Toney, and the recalling of Eric Dier, and perhaps via necessity the England coach may strive for the best of both worlds in the coming days, putting out teams he can trust while additionally giving his fringe personnel a serious number of minutes.

If that is indeed the case, with a final squad announcement due early November, that makes these two clashes potentially career-defining for some. And yes, auditions they are.

Ramsdale and Pope

With Jordan Pickford unavailable, the Arsenal stopper - Aaron Ramsdale - is a shoo-in to start vs Italy, having featured in three of England's last seven matches.

He's a man in form too, conceding only once in the first-half of domestic games so far in 2022/23.

In the past year, Ramsdale has firmly snagged the back-up spot as his own and he's ambitious enough to not settle for that, saying last summer, "By no means I am second choice."

Furthering his cause is an impressive start to the campaign that has helped put Arsenal top of the pile.

Hampering his cause is his participation in England's shock 4-0 reverse to Hungary back in June, with the 24-year-old arguably at fault for two of them.

As for Pope, there is every chance he will be handed a ninth cap, as reward for an outstanding opening spell at Newcastle.

The former Burnley custodian has kept three clean sheets and put in superb displays against Brighton and Manchester City.

An assured performance this week - most likely versus Germany - will at the very least give Southgate something to think about.

Trent and centre-backs

For his club, Alexander-Arnold is a bona fide superstar and possibly the finest exponent of an attacking full-back the top-flight has to offer. Last season, only team-mate Mo Salah assisted more in the Premier League.

Alas, it's a very different story for his country, with just three starts in the last 25 England outings illustrating that TAA has become a peripheral figure under Southgate and consistently so.

Even if injuries have been a contributory factor, it is also clear his international gaffer doesn't trust him to be defensively solid.

It's an issue that won't be resolved anytime soon but may swing back in the player's favour this week with Kyle Walker a serious doubt and Kieran Trippier possibly deployed at left-back.

Trent is 2.111/10 to start against Iran in England's World Cup opener, compared to Reece James' 1.9110/11 and Kieran Trippier's 2.26/5.

Some impactful game-time from Trent will put him in the frame for Qatar.

Looking inward meanwhile, to the centre-back positions, Tyrone Mings and Ben White miss out here, but the latter's aptitude in a back-three has him remain a genuine contender for positions that are up for grabs.

On this occasion, it is Guehi, Dier, Coady and Tomori competing with first-choicers Stones and Maguire but regardless of who is selected for Milan we should acknowledge that England's heavy loss to Hungary was an outlier.

Prior to that, Southgate's men conceded only 12 in their last 35 fixtures, keeping clean sheets in a remarkable 68.5% of those games.

Bellingham the wunderkind

There will come a time when depicting Jude Bellingham as a fringe player is frankly ludicrous, and that time is fast approaching.

For a good while Qatar 2022 was viewed to be a tournament too early for the teenage prodigy but so consistent and influential have been his displays for Dortmund that he is speedily making himself indispensable on the international stage, and this is evidenced by seven appearances in England's last eight games.

Granted, the boy wonder has yet to score or assist this term in the Bundesliga but his passing accuracy in the Champions League has topped 84% and this is pertinent because on the bigger stages Bellingham especially thrives, relishing taking marquee match-ups by the scruff of the neck.

As alluded to above, Italy are fancied to win-out by a narrow margin this Friday evening. But if England do score, don't put it past their brightest young star to break his season's duck.

Toney awarded

Southgate has long struggled to settle on a reliable understudy to Harry Kane with persisting doubts over Rashford's fitness and Calvert-Lewin also a regular absentee.

To that end it is a surprise to see Jarrod Bowen given another chance, after fluffing his lines last time out.

Additionally, the Hammer has yet to score or assist in the Premier League this season. Tammy Abraham is in contention too, and it could be said that his seat on the plane is all-but-guaranteed, impressing once again in Rome.

Ivan Toney though is making himself impossible to ignore, out-scoring every other English player other than Kane in 2022/23 and highlighting other areas of his game that maybe previously were over-looked.

His assist against Manchester United recently was nothing short of exceptional.

The Brentford forward's 12 goals last season proved he is elite-standard, after scoring a bucketful in the lower leagues.

Now with five in seven and England's World Cup opener against Iran just eight weeks away, he is timing his run perfectly.

Toney is 15.014/1 to start against Iran in November, and what an achievement it would be for a player who has scored goals in all four of England's main domestic leagues.

Even so, backing a romantic debut goal for the prolific Bee should be swerved for Ciro Immobile getting on the score-sheet instead.

The evergreen Lazio ace also has five in seven, is a definite starter, and is the same odds to notch anytime.