The England Starting XI if it was decided by fantasy football

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England squad announced

Gareth Southgate has just named his 33-man provisional squad for the European Championships, which will need to be cut by 1st June to just 26 names.

Alexander-Arnold in #eng 33-man provisional squad #lfc pic.twitter.com/Vked0LBJ9i

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) May 25, 2021

This has included call-ups for the likes of Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling, who have both had limited game time this season due to injury and form issues.

Meanwhile there are first call-ups for Ben Godfrey, Ben White, and Sam Johnstone amongst the 33 named, although at least one of them will likely be part of the cull of seven players to meet the Euro squad regulations.

You can read who else the experts think will be victims of this here.

Fantasy Football says different

But what about, just for the sake of argument, the England side was decided by Fantasy football?

Fantasy football rewards output (goals and assists) highly, so in theory the side should be strong going forwards but may lack a little balance.

Obviously, Borussia Dortmund pair Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham would immediately be excluded, as would Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier, falling victim to not playing in the Premier League.

If the England team was decided by #FPL points ?https://t.co/C6F18ZODwN pic.twitter.com/8PrWEzYZRd

— Fantasy Football Fix (@FantasyFootyFix) May 25, 2021

What is left, however, still raises eyebrows.

Leeds pair Jack Harrison and Patrick Bamford make their way onto the plane, whilst Jamie Vardy’s retirement from international football means that Marcus Rashford takes the striker’s place.

There would also be call-ups for Brighton defender Lewis Dunk and West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell, whilst Trent Alexander Arnold is nailed on for the right-back position.

? “I really like Dunk: he can defend, scores & can play with his feet.”

??????? “Dunk’s been harshly overlooked by England on a number of occasions.”@DarrenBent wishes we saw more of #BHAFC’s Dunk in the England set-up.

Should Dunk be in the provisional squad announced today? ? pic.twitter.com/LSBCIrQUP3

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) May 25, 2021

What is perhaps the most striking thing about the side is that despite arguably only three of the 11 set to start at the upcoming tournament (Mason Mount, John Stones and Harry Kane), the side is still incredibly strong. Even without high-profile names such as Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, or Luke Shaw, the competition for places remains strong.

This comes across clearly both in fantasy football and in Southgate’s choice to name a 33 man strong squad rather than the traditional 26. It remains to be seen how his choices will fare this summer, but it certainly a solid foundation.