Liverpool and Scotland legend Graeme Souness has snubbed Bukayo Saka and Trent Alexander-Arnold as he named his England XI.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions head to Qatar in November looking to reach their second successive major final, having finished as runners-up at Euro 2020.
Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold missed that tournament through injury, while Saka played an important role despite missing a penalty in the final defeat to Italy, being named Star of the Match for England’s 1-0 win over the Czech Republic.
The Three Lions reached the last four at the last World Cup in 2018 under Southgate – a tournament Alexander-Arnold did play in – but found his game time limited as Kieran Trippier was preferred at right-back instead for most matches.
Alexander-Arnold has been a key player for ’s side in recent years, winning the Premier League, , and League Cup at Anfield.
Saka has also impressed since breaking into the Arsenal first team, scoring 24 goals across 139 games and helping them lift the FA Cup, .
But neither player made it into Souness’ England XI for the World Cup in Qatar, with England’s first game against Iran on November 21 before they face the United States on November 25 and a British battle with Wales four days later.
‘I’ve gone with [Jordan] Pickford in goal, a back-three of [John] Stones, [Eric] Dier in the middle of a back-three with [Kyle] Walker,’ Souness told .
‘Wing-backs of [Ben] Chilwell on the left and Reece James on the right.
‘In the middle, [Declan] Rice and [Jude] Bellingham, then up front, [Raheem] Sterling, Kane and [Phil] Foden.’
Before England get their World Cup campaign underway, they face Nations League matches against Italy and Germany on Friday and Monday respectively.
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