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World Cup Selection Dilemma: Why Serbia must build their midfield around Milinkovic-Savic

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World Cup Selection Dilemma: Why Serbia must build their midfield around Milinkovic-Savic When looking at Serbia’s midfield options, there’s no denying head coach Mladen Krstajic has ample quality to select from. The 44-year-old is able to call upon the likes of Premier League pair Nemanja Matic and Luka Milivojevic, Benfica youngster Andrija Zivkovic, Liverpool man Marko Gru...

World Cup Selection Dilemma: Who should Sampaoli start up front for Argentina?

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World Cup Selection Dilemma: Who should Sampaoli start up front for Argentina? For any other nation, the absence of a striker of Sergio Aguero’s calibre would have been a huge blow to their chances at the World Cup. Argentina, though, are a nation blessed with incredible striking talent. While the Manchester City striker will miss the rest of the season with a knee issue...

Watch: Jadon Sancho makes late case for England call with perfect 10 performance

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Watch: Jadon Sancho makes late case for England call with perfect 10 performance With the World Cup looming large, Gareth Southgate spent yesterday evening watching the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley as he aims to finalise his squad for the summer. Away from the drama of Manchester United’s victory over Tottenham, however, there was an Englishman on fire in another big game ...

World Cup Selection Dilemma: Why Portugal must build around Ruben Neves

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World Cup Selection Dilemma: Why Portugal must build around Ruben Neves Let’s start with a sentence I never thought I’d type. The European champions should build their team around a Championship star.Of course, Portugal’s most important player in Russia will be Cristiano Ronaldo, but Fernando Santos’ side can’t rely too heavily on the agein...

England's best rated XI for the 2018 World Cup

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England's best rated XI for the 2018 World Cup England manager Gareth Southgate will now have a better understanding about what players he will take to the 2018 World Cup. The Three Lions boss experimented with 22 players during the international break and some impressed more than others in friendlies against Holland and Italy.Forty-seven differ...

Statistical Comparison: World Cup Selection Dilemma - Pickford vs Butland

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Statistical Comparison: World Cup Selection Dilemma - Pickford vs Butland After it was confirmed that Jack Butland would start tomorrow night’s friendly with Italy, the battle for the place between the posts for England is becoming quite clear.The Stoke stopper looks to be a in a straight shoot out with Jordan Pickford, who did his own chances of being first choice ...

World Cup One to Watch: Rodri - The heir to Busquets' Spain throne

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World Cup One to Watch: Rodri - The heir to Busquets' Spain throne Have Spain found a long-term successor to Sergio Busquets' throne for the national side? Villarreal midfielder Rodri could certainly be the closest yet....

Top Ten: International Debutants to Keep an Eye on this Week

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Top Ten: International Debutants to Keep an Eye on this Week We take a closer look at ten potential international debutants this week from ten different nations as those competing gear up for the 2018 World Cup....

Statistical Comparison: World Cup Selection Dilemma - Alisson vs Ederson

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Statistical Comparison: World Cup Selection Dilemma - Alisson vs Ederson While Gareth Southgate still has a decision to make with regards to his first choice goalkeeper for the World Cup, with the uncapped Nick Pope the in-form candidate, one of the pre-tournament favourites has a much more welcome selection dilemma between the posts.Brazil isn’t a footballing nati...

Assessing England’s goalkeeper problems: Options and alternatives

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Assessing England’s goalkeeper problems: Options and alternatives We assess Gareth Southgate’s goalkeeper options ahead of England’s World Cup campaign, asking whether he needs to cast his net into the Championship to solve their current problems....