GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Wednesday, July 31, 2019: Liverpool's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during a pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and Olympique Lyonnais at Stade de Genève. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Oxlade-Chamberlain returns to England squad as four Reds called up for Euro 2020 qualifiers

Four Liverpool players have been called up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for two Euro 2020 qualifiers in the forthcoming international break.

The Three Lions will face Bulgaria on Saturday, 7 September at Wembley, before hosting Kosovo at Southampton‘s St. Mary’s Stadium three days later.

With two fixtures played thus far and England taking maximum points, scoring 10 goals in the process, another six-point haul would have the World Cup semi-finalists already looking good for qualification to next summer’s European Championships.

Four key Liverpool players are likely to play a big role in Southgate’s squad, pending fitness, and all have been called up for these two fixtures.

First is Reds captain Jordan Henderson, who has 51 caps to his name thus far and is a regular starter in midfield for the national team.

Alongside him in the middle is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, recalled to the squad after regaining fitness and playing a part in the early weeks of the new season for the Reds.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has 32 caps for England, but the last of those came in March 2018 before his long-term knee injury.

England's Trent Alexander-Arnold during the FIFA World Cup Group G match at Kaliningrad Stadium - Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA Images

In defence, two other Liverpool players are highly regarded by Southgate and it’s no surprise to see Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez named in the squad.

Trent has earned six caps to-date, with Gomez sitting one higher on seven.

Both could potentially feature in a first-choice lineup for England, though the change from a back three and wing-backs to a regular back four means there’s more competition for places at centre-back for Gomez.

 

England squad

England's Jordan Henderson during the FIFA World Cup Group G match at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium

Goalkeepers: Heaton, Pickford, Pope

Defenders: Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Gomez, Keane, Maguire, Mings, Rose, Trippier, Wan-Bissaka

Midfielders: Barkley, Henderson, Lingard, Maddison, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rice, Winks

Forwards: Kane, Mount, Rashford, Sancho, Sterling, Wilson