England XI vs Australia: Confirmed team news, predicted lineup and injury for friendly today
The friendly at Wembley will be the first meeting between England and the Aussies since May 2016, when Marcus Rashford — who could also play on Friday — scored less than three minutes into his England debut.
With England back in action next Tuesday for a pivotal qualifier against Italy in which they would qualify for Euro 2024 with a win, manager Gareth Southgate is expected to name an experimental XI against Australia.
Every player in Southgate’s 25-man squad trained at St. George’s Park on Thursday, before travelling down to Tottenham’s training ground in the evening.
Jarrod Bowen, who signed a new deal at West Ham on Saturday, is back in the England squad for the first time since June 2022 and is expected to feature on Friday.
So too is Ollie Watkins, the Aston Villa striker, who was last called up in the March 2022 international break in which he scored his second England goal in a 3-0 friendly win over Ivory Coast.
Eberechi Eze and Callum Wilson were not called up by Southgate due to injury problems, while Bukayo Saka had to return to Arsenal’s training ground for treatment on his hamstring injury despite initially reporting to England duty earlier this week.
Predicted England XI: Johnstone; Trippier, Guehi, Dunk, Colwill; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Henderson; Bowen, Watkins, Grealish
Injuries: Saka, Wilson, Eze, Chilwell, Shaw, Mings, James
Doubts: None
Date and time: 7:45pm BST, Friday October 13, 2023
Venue: Wembley Stadium
