It’s funny being an England fan: you’re always a mix of total cynicism and disbelief that we’ll ever win anything but there’s a little voice in the back of your head that still whispers, ‘It’s coming home’ – and after looking at some of the stats from our squad this season, that voice sounds a little louder.
On Wednesday night, Manchester City star Phil Foden went 21-up for goals this Premier League campaign, not to mention 10 assists to boot, and our brains have already started drifting to visions of him creating or scoring an all-important goal at the Euros this summer.
Undoubtedly one of the rising stars in world football, not just England, the Stopfordian midfielder is having his best statistical season ever there’s no doubt he already looks at home on the biggest stage following the treble last year, but it’s also the company he’s now joined that’s getting us really excited.
As it turns out, not only does Foden have the stats to back it up but he’s also just the fifth player to manage 20+ goals and 10+ (and without penalties) across all of Europe’s top five leagues this season. We were also delighted to find out that only one of those other players wasn’t English:
Five players have registered 20+ goals and 10+ assists in Europe's big five leagues this season, across all competitions 🔥
England players putting up these kinds of stats is making us believe we could actually win something.
When putting things into a wider European perspective (which we have to start doing now the tournament is just over two months away), you can’t help but start to feel more positive when you hear that key members of Gareth Southgate‘s squad are putting up the best numbers on the continent.
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Although Harry Kane will obviously be starting presumably every game unless we romp through the group stage, having a second striker in Ollie Watkins, who is also having his best season in the top flight and looks to be leading a team outside of the ‘big six’ into the European spots, is not a bad place to be in.
Better still, with Ivan Toney having now returned from his lengthy league ban and already back to scoring, it seems the Three Lions boss has plenty of options up front when the Euros rolls around. Even Marcus Rashford is on 14 all-told in a fairly off-season for him.
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In fact, it may have been a problem for England teams in recent years but this current squad seems to have attacking players galore, with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Jarrod Bowen and Cole Palmer all on 20 goal contributions each this season too.
Bowen himself said he wants to give Southgate as big a selection headache as possible, whereas Palmer turning one goal into a hattrick in stoppage time on Thursday to make it 21 goals and a dozen assists is the kind of match-winning mentality you want in your squad. These are good problems to have.
✈️ This is the most likely England squad for the Euros based on the odds
On paper, you can’t deny it’s a seriously impressive squad.
And then we come to that all-important midfield, which has also historically caused us a dilemma at major tournaments, either through not having enough creative players or the right balance between defence and attack. The classic Scholes-Gerrard-Lampard-Beckham problem.
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We don’t want to get carried away but this year it looks like we might have one of the best lineups in the middle of the park you could hope for not only in quality and balance as mentioned before but in depth, physicality and overall engine too.
With Jude Bellingham being quite literally one of the best players on the planet right now and having quickly become a ‘galáctico’ star at Real Madrid in his first season and Declan Rice proving why everyone wanted to sign him as he’s been instrumental in Arsenal’s title race, it’s hard not to dream.
Oh, and we can’t forget about the latest inclusion to the squad in Man United‘s phenomenal young midfielder, Kobbie Mainoo, another Stockport-born starlet who hasn’t only just looked like the most mature player on the pitch at club level but earned player of the match on his very first England start.
Mainoo has been virtually undroppable since bursting onto the scene and after Ian Wright and countless other fans said he simply has to be in the squad, it already looks like he’s done one better and forced himself into most people’s starting 11.
We’re not ones to get overly obsessed with the most specific of stats but what we will say is that all three of these England players boast great numbers when it comes to passes played and accuracy, dribbles completed, tackles and low turnover rates when pressured – Mainoo, especially, at such a young age.
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To cut a long story short, what we’re saying is that there is a supreme amount of talent in this squad and even aside from things like xG and all those more minute metrics, it’s a really energetic squad with some key experienced players all throughout the spine to help keep the younger players more grounded.
Whether or not Southgate is around after Euro 2024 remains to be seen and although there are lots of players to build around in the future, it looks like this is arguably his best chance to win something as England manager. It’s all there on the table, we’ve just got to believe. It’s coming home.
Featured Images — Man City (via IG)/Harry Kane (via IG)/England (via IG)
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Super League ‘Rivals Round’ fixtures confirmed, with two big North West clashes
Danny Jones
The Betfred Super League (BSL) ‘Rivals Round’ games for 2026 have been confirmed, with two big regional clashes coming in time for the spring.
Returning for 2026, the annual meeting of multiple teams coming up against their fiercest and most historic rivals will land on round seven of the calendar over the traditional Easter weekend.
Despite the competition having sadly lost Salford Red Devils following their forced relegation, local rugby fans will still be glad to see the borough of Wigan, as well as neighbouring Cheshire and nearby Merseyside clubs, coming up against each other in what is a highly anticipated fixture on the calendar.
Announcing the now fully confirmed matches this week, the total of seven matches are set to be played between Friday, 3 April and the following Sunday, 5 April.
In the Super League’s own words, there are few gameweeks more box office than the Rivals Round – “where the games mean more, hit harder and have the ability to divide towns and families.”
After the inaugural edition of the modern round in 2021, this year saw the division record a best-ever attendance of 86,080 across a six-match period, and with an extra game being played next season, we’re expecting more ground to be broken.
“The most intense and historic rivalries will go head-to-head with huge crowds anticipated, emotions running high and everyone expected to bring their A game”, say the BSL.
Huddersfield Giants v York Knights – Saturday, 4 April
Castleford Tigers v Wakefield Trinity – Sunday, 5 April
One of the most notable exclusions among the slate, of course, is that of Salford Red Devils, as various players and staff members continue to leave the club during this increasingly concerning and deep period of uncertainty.
Salford supporters have given a clear response following the decisive drop in IMG gradings:
Although they are now longer in rugby league’s premier domestic tier, Salford are still expected to take part in the Challenge Cup tournament, which begins in January.
Betfred and the RFL revealed the most recent ties on Monday, 24 November, with the Devils due to face either Royal Navy Rugby or Hammersmith Hills Hoists in the second round.
Meanwhile, with the new campaign kicking off in February, rugby fans will only have to wait a couple of months to witness the upcoming instalments in the various rivalries.
Safe to say it’s going to be a spicy Easter break.
Pep Guardiola admits heavily rotated squad was ‘too much’ after landmark home loss
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola has conceded that his heavily rotated side, which saw almost an entirely different team from the previous matchday squad, may have been “too many changes” as Manchester City suffered their first home loss in the Champions League group stages in more than seven years.
Man City suffered a 2-0 defeat whilst hosting Bayer Leverkusen at the Etihad Stadium – a place that has been largely a fortress in European fixtures since the Catalan coach arrived – but the biggest headline on the night was the whopping 10 personnel changes Guardiola made to his starting XI.
It has been argued that Pep has become overly reliant on star striker Erling Haaland (who has already scored 19 goals in the Premier League and UCL combined this season), and the virtually ‘start-from-scratch’ outfit he fielded on Tuesday night definitely didn’t do him any favours.
Speaking to various media in post-match interviews and the press conference after the game, Pep admitted that his wholesale rotation gamble may have been “too much.”
"Maybe it was too much…"
Pep Guardiola reflected on Man City's home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen after making 10 changes 🔁 pic.twitter.com/WBZHwl3ZOb
Considering the only continuity between the batch that faced Leverkusen and the previous squad that narrowly lost to Newcastle United was the still relatively new CDM, Nico González, we think he might be on to something.
In fact, as if the conviction behind the decision wasn’t already questionable enough, Pep insisted before the game that he would have made more if he could, but with fellow central midfielder talisman Rodri still injured, the number 14 was the sole teammate who remained from the weekend.
There are always going to be lapses in sharpness and fluidity when a lineup is shuffled, but it’s fair to say that it’s almost guaranteed when you remove every individual bar one.
Perhaps this was a somewhat covert/loaded attempt to shine a light again on previously mentioned complaints regarding squad depth in relation to the increasingly congested fixture list, with both Guardiola and the aforementioned Euro 2020 winner having flagged their concerns about the calendar.
This is also the second time in just a matter of days that the 54-year-old has held his hands up and taken accountability for making “huge mistakes”.
Not only was it City’s first Champions League loss of the season, but as mentioned, the first and at home in the competition’s initial stages in more than half a decade.
It’s quite a record that Pep has clung onto, which should get plenty of recognition in its own right, but supporters will nevertheless be hoping to get back to winning ways soon and avoid stringing together any more consecutive losses.
Last November was the first time Guardiola had ever lost four matches in a row during his entire career, and with a trio of very winnable fixtures coming up in the league, we would bank on a big reaction in the next game against Leeds.
If you missed the game, you can watch the highlights from Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen down below.
Danny Jones -
5th April 2024 
