The 26-man squad Gareth Southgate should take to the World Cup

Gareth Southgate will announce his provisional World Cup squad within the next week and if he needs any help here would be my 26 players heading to Qatar.

Goalkeepers

Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope

Probably the easiest area on the pitch for Southgate to solve and the three almost pick themselves. I'd personally have Aaron Ramsdale ahead of Nick Pope as first reserve to Jordan Pickford.

Right-backs

Reece James (or Kieran Trippier), Trent Alexander-Arnold

Reports on Friday suggest that Reece James could be ruled out of the World Cup which would be a major blow for Southgate.

The good news is that Trent Alexander-Arnold or Kieran Tripper provide good depth but James would be first choice if available and seems much more comfortable than the equally talented Alexander-Arnold in Southgate's system.

If he does recover James would be my starter in either a four or five-man defence, and while Trippier would be unlucky to miss out, taking three right-backs feels like a waste of a player further up the pitch, particularly if Kyle Walker is chosen as a right-sided centre-back.

Centre-backs

Kyle Walker, Ben White, Eric Dier, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Harry Maguire

If Walker and James fail to recover from injury then maybe there could be a recall for Joe Gomez but hopefully at least one is able to make the final cut.

Ben White's absence from recent England squads suggests Southgate is thinking elsewhere, but that would be really harsh given he is comfortable in the full-back area, which is quite often the position of a right-sided centre-back in the three. He should be included no matter the fitness status of Walker and James.

Eric Dier is better than Conor Coady and playing every game in a back three, while John Stones is the preferred starting central defender. The left-side must be keeping Southgate awake but, despite his red card this week, Fikayo Tomori has been outstanding for Milan and should be ahead of Harry Maguire in the starting 11.

A lack of options and a bloated 26-man squad suggests Maguire is probably worth taking, although it is a failure of the manager that we don't quite know yet if left-sided pair Marc Guehi and Tomori are comfortable within the England set-up.

Left-backs

Luke Shaw, Ben Chilwell

Given another six months Ryan Sessegnon may have been pushing harder to displace Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell.

Midfielders

Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Ruebn Loftus-Cheek, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, James Maddison

Kalvin Phillips can't go unless he is fully fit and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is timing his run nicely. Graham Potter has found a position for him in front of the Chelsea defence and he offers plenty of versatility.

James Maddison isn't going to be selected and that's a big shame because he should. Maddison has had the same number of shot-creating actions as Phil Foden this season (according to fbref.com) and in an era of five subs would be a cracking option to chuck on if the team need inspiration.

Wide forwards

Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling

These four are obvious and it's a little unlucky on Jarrod Bowen but you can only take so many, particularly as Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford and Maddison could play in wider positions too in this mythical squad. In the real squad Bowen for Maddison is possible.

Centre forwards

Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Ivan Toney

The options behind Harry Kane are not great and there would be a strong argument to use Raheem Sterling or Phil Foden as false nines if anything happened to the skipper.

Ivan Toney's penalty-taking prowess gives him the edge as that brilliance might well be needed in a shootout.

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