Southgate Bullish on Lallana and Henderson

Heading into the international break, England know that they’re well positioned to take a commanding position in their World Cup qualifying group, and manager Gareth Southgate is expecting Liverpool’s Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson to play a key role for his side.

“It’s always helpful when you’ve got players who are playing well; who are in a good moment,” the England manager told reporters when asked about the impact he expects Lallana and Henderson to make. “That tends to carry through to their performances with us.

“I was watching Liverpool yesterday and they’re in a really good moment. I was at their training ground last week and they’re clearly a good atmosphere about the place and they believe in what the manager is doing, so hopefully they can bring that to our performances

All told, four Liverpool players have been called up by Southgate for England’s two November games—a World Cup qualifier against Scotland on Friday followed by a friendly against Spain next Tuesday—with Nathaniel Clyne, and Daniel Sturridge joining Lallana and Henderson.

Lallana and Henderson are both expected start against Scotland, though based on the previous round of fixtures it is Sturridge and not Clyne who is perhaps more likely to join them in the starting eleven. England currently lead their group with seven points after three games.

The match against Scotland will kick off at 7:45PM GMT Friday, while they face Spain from 8PM on the 15th. Both matches will be played at Wembley and will be carried by ITV 1 in the UK and Fox Sports 1 in the USA.