What the data says: Who should be in England’s World Cup starting XI on form?
We now know the tactics that Gareth Southgate wants to use at the World Cup – so who should be in England’s starting XI based on current form?
To answer that question, Morning Wire enlisted the help of Delphlyx, the data-driven platform for analysing, comparing and valuing footballers.
England’s system
“As we saw against Germany on Monday, England play at their best when the game is somewhat chaotic and they press high,” says Delphlyx founder Tom Randolph.
“National teams who do well in competitions usually do not pick their best XI. The formation and style of play defines who starts, which won’t always be statistically the best players available to the coach – see France ’98.
“Having said that, we have looked at players who the data from this and last season suggests would perform well in a pressing team who want to progress up the pitch quickly.”
The best XI for the World Cup
According to the analysis by Delphlyx, England should make as many as six changes to the XI who started against Germany.
Aaron Ramsdale should take the gloves from Nick Pope, who had a game to forget on Monday.
On form, Ben White and Fikayo Tomori deserve to come into defence for the now-injured John Stones and the under-fire Harry Maguire.
Trent Alexander-Arnold may have failed to convince Southgate but he would be a better bet than Reece James at right wing-back.
And in attack, Bukayo Saka and Mason Mount – who made telling contributions off the bench against Germany – ought to play ahead of Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling.
Just missed out
A number of players who fit the style of play but narrowly missed the cut.
They include strikers Tammy Abraham and Ivan Toney, attacking midfielders Anthony Gordon and Jack Harrison, and centre-back Marc Guehi.