Gareth Southgate probably knows most of his England starting XI for their first match at Euro 2024, but it remains a guessing game as to whether or not it’ll include Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The Liverpool vice-captain started the 3-0 friendly win over Bosnia & Herzegovina earlier this week, scoring late on as he played a starring role. He had to content himself with a substitute appearance in Friday’s defeat to Iceland, but was one of the few positives from a dismal night for the Three Lions.
At 9am on Saturday morning, the national team’s official X channel posted the squad numbers that each player will wear at the European Championship in Germany, with the 25-year-old taking the number 8 shirt.
Revealing your #ThreeLions squad numbers for #EURO2024! pic.twitter.com/nTEbH3MGiO
— England (@England) June 8, 2024
READ MORE: (Video) Alexander-Arnold shows the nation how great his passing is once again
It’s been commonplace at major tournaments that the team which is regarded as the likeliest starting XI occupy shirt numbers 1 to 11, so by that logic, the allocation for Euro 2024 appears to hint at the firm possibility of Trent being in Southgate’s pick to start.
Former Liverpool midfielders Paul Ince and Steven Gerrard have both worn 4 at World Cups for the Three Lions, the same as Declan Rice will do at this summer’s Euros, and the Reds vice-captain being given number 8 also suggests that he’ll more likely play in the middle of the park than at right-back.
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Of course, the team which starts a nation’s first match at a tournament can often look markedly different from the starting XI in their final game, with injuries, suspensions and players in or out of form sometimes seeing unlikely bolters emerge as pivotal figures as the competition progesses.
Trent wore shirt numbers 22 and 18 in the two World Cups in which he featured (curiously, he wore 22 at Russia ’18 and 18 at Qatar ’22) and played just once at each finals, whereas his single-digit number this time around seems to indicate that he’s moved up the pecking order.
Between now and the Serbia game on 16 June, England fans will fervently debate the composition of their preferred starting XI, but ultimately the Liverpool star’s fate is in Southgate’s hands. One thing we can say for certain is that, on recent performances, he deserves to start in Gelsenkirchen in eight days’ time.
READ MORE: A history of Liverpool players at the European Championship
