England October Internationals squad announced

Jonathan Victoria • 05 Oct 2023 News

Southgate’s done it again with the selections.

The England squad for the upcoming October International fixtures against Italy and Australia has been announced, and as per usual there are some questionable decisions.

There are the usual suspects in there. Jude Bellingham is probably the most in-form player in the world right now, so he’s probably the first name on the teamsheet.

The captain Harry Kane returns and already has his first Bayern hat trick under his belt (although by Bundesliga terms it technically wasn’t a hat trick).

In a similar vein, Ollie Watkins has been recalled to the England side after netting three goals in Aston Villa's 6-1 routing of Brighton last weekend.

Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi is solidifying himself as the main man at the back, and there are a number of options for who could line up beside him, including Chelsea’s young star boy Levi Colwill.

Bukayo Saka picked up an injury during Arsenal’s midweek defeat to Lens in the Champions League. His involvement in the Gunners’ big clash against Manchester City this weekend is in doubt; however, Southgate has still picked him in his squad for next week's fixtures.

Here it is: your #ThreeLions squad for October! 👊

— England (@England) October 5, 2023

Despite the good, Southgate has done it again, leaving out top players who have been in great form to start the season such as West Ham’s James Ward Prowse and Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon.

Thankfully, Prowse’s teammate Jarrod Bowen has rightfully made it, but as always, for some reason not even the highest power understands, Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson are still there.

The collective groan of everyone checking their phones to see those two still getting picked was heard all across Europe.

Unfortunately for Raheem Sterling, he misses out on the squad yet again. His situation isn’t looking all too good as he was benched for Chelsea’s last two games, both of which they won. He’ll be hoping to find his way back into the side soon otherwise he won’t be making the Euros squad.

England will be playing Australia first in a friendly on Friday 13th October, proceeded by Italy in a Euro 2024 qualification game first on Tuesday 17th October. 

A win against their Euro 2020 opponents and some favourable results elsewhere could see the Three Lions qualify for the tournament.