September sees England continue their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign against Andorra and Serbia.
Thomas Tuchel has named an England squad for the third time, and it feels like an important one. The Three Lions have to recover from a shock 1-3 defeat to Senegal in a friendly in June.
The biggest story of the England squad was the inclusion of Elliot Anderson, earning his first senior call-up. And it was a deserved inclusion. Djed Spence also got a first senior call-up, for his excellent performances for Tottenham Hotspur so far.
Jordan Henderson kept his spot in the squad, with Tuchel clearly fond of the now-Brentford man.
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Confirmed England squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, James Trafford
Defenders: Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Tino Livramento, Djed Spence, John Stones
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rodgers, Adam Wharton
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins
England Squawka Score squad
So that’s Tuchel’s squad. Who have been the best English players in Europe’s top five leagues this season? Using the Squawka Score, which is based on the statistical leaders for metrics relevant to their positions, we’ve picked a 26-man England squad for the September international break. We’ve focused on English players in Europe’s top five leagues, currently available for selection (not injured or retired internationally), with at least 70 minutes for their club this season. Naturally, things are a bit different given the early stage of the campaign.
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Goalkeepers
There aren’t too many English goalkeeping options in Europe’s top five leagues right now. So the goalkeeper selections are the same. Jordan Pickford is the top-scoring English goalkeeper so far with a Squawka Score of 79%. The Everton shot-stopper has saved one penalty and prevented 0.78 goals per 90 minutes, alongside one clean sheet. James Trafford has also kept a clean sheet for Manchester City, which helps his Squawka Score of 62%. The 22-year-old has also prevented 0.5 goals per 90, while saving 75% of the shots he has faced. Dean Henderson completes the three goalkeepers with a Squawka Score of 59%. He has also kept one clean sheet.
Defenders
Right-back has been a good position for England in recent times, but there are a few different names making our Squawka Score squad. Rico Lewis is the first choice, with a Squawka Score of 70%. The Man City man has posted 0.48 Expected Assists per 90 in the Premier League this season, while averaging 6.35 passes completed into the final third. He has also averaged 1.73 interceptions per 90 and 2.88 clearances. His competition is the first player in the squad playing outside the Premier League — Ainsley Maitland-Niles, with a Squawka Score of 64%. The former Arsenal man is currently playing right-back, or right wing-back, for Lyon and hasn’t featured for England since November 2020. He’s 3.0 tackles won per 90 and 0.3 xA, alongside just 0.5 challenges lost per 90.
On the other side of the defence, Ryan Sessegnon leads the selection with a Squawka Score of 66%. The left-back options remain less than England’s hopes on the right, but there are some interesting numbers being thrown about. Sessegnon has won 66.67% of his ground duels in the Premier League this season, with 2.9 tackles won per 90. He has also blocked 1.45 shots per 90 and averaged 4.35 touches in the opposition box. Tino Livramento follows closely behind with a Squawka Score of 65%, and he does look to be part of England’s future at left-back. The Newcastle United man has won 75% of his ground duels and created 0.5 big chances per 90.
There’s an interesting selection of centre-backs with the Squawka Score. Trevoh Chalobah is the top-performing English centre-back in Europe’s top five leagues so far, with a Squawka Score of 73%. He’s won 71.43% of his ground duels for Chelsea, while averaging 5.66 clearances per 90. The 26-year-old has also completed 7.92 passes into the final third per 90, showing his quality with the ball at his feet. Eric Dier is next up, as the other centre-back to score in the 70s (70%). Now at Monaco, Dier has averaged 6.5 clearances per 90 in Ligue 1 this season, while blocking 2.0 shots per 90.
Lloyd Kelly is another English centre-back playing his football outside of England, with a Squawka Score of 68% for Juventus. In fact, Kelly, Tyrone Mings and Jarell Quansah are all level with 68%. And Quansah joins Kelly in playing abroad, now at Bayer Leverkusen. Kelly has shown good quality in the air, averaging 4.0 aerial duels won per 90, with 100% success rate. Minds has won 4.5 aerial duels per 90, winning 75% of his total contested. Quansah, meanwhile, has won 83.33% of his ground duels.
Midfielders
There haven’t been many standout deeper English midfielders at the start of the 2025-26 season, with some lower scores. Elliot Anderson is the best for our DM Score, at 66% for Nottingham Forest. His 2.0 aerial duels won per 90 helps his Score, as does his 10.5 passes into the final third completed per 90 and 5.5 possessions won in the middle third. Obviously Tuchel was paying attention too. Curtis Jones isn’t too far behind him, with a Score of 63%. The Liverpool man has averaged 13.46 accurate forward passes per 90 in the league this season, with 7.57 duels won per 90 and 100% success in ground duels. Angel Gomes has been quietly impressing at Marseille, boasting a Squawka Score of 62%. Gomes has a retention rate of 92.71%, proving extremely reliable on the ball. That places him in the 95th percentile and above compared to central midfielders.
The central midfield options outside of a double pivot bring us Marcus Tavernier at 66%, having been moved more central for Bournemouth. He has averaged 1.61 tackles won per 90 and 2.68 take-ons completed, with 47.69% of his passes going forward. Adam Wharton completes the midfield, with a Squawka Score of 56%. Wharton has created 1.05 big chances per 90 in the Premier League this season, while also winning possession 2.62 times in the defensive third.
Now, as it’s early in the season, Scores for the No.10s aren’t too high and some big names are yet to perform. Morgan Gibbs-White is the leading English No.10 with a Score of 55%. The Nottingham Forest man has provided 0.54 intentional assists with 0.54 big chances created per 90. He also also completed 1.63 open-play crosses per 90, placing him in the 95th percentile and above. He’s joined by Everton’s new signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall with a low Squawka Score of 37%.
Forwards
England have a problem of the right with Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer injured. Noni Madueke is the highest right-winger with a Score of just 37%. But even in that Score, Madueke has produced 0.33 xA per 90 and had 5.74 touches in the opposition box. Callum Hudson-Odoi has been playing on the left wing this season but can feature on both flanks, so we’re using that to our advantage. And he has a Score of 59% so far this season, with 0.56 goals per 90 and 0.56 big chances created.
Burnley’s Jaidon Anthony is the highest-scoring English attacker so far this season, with a Score of 70%. He has scored 0.51 goals and provided 0.51 intentional assists per 90 this season, helping Burnley to their first win of the campaign against Sunderland. Anthony has also averaged 0.46 non-penalty post-shot xG per 90, with 3.09 shots on target. Jack Grealish then gets a call back for England with a Score of 48%. Grealish has slowly been getting involved at Everton, with 1.67 intentional assists per 90 and 0.83 big chances created, with 0.61 xA.
There are probably no surprises when it comes to strikers. Harry Kane leads the way with a Squawka Score of 82%, having enjoyed an explosive start to the new Bundesliga season. The England captain has scored 3.14 goals per 90 from 1.9 non-penalty post-shot xG and 4.19 non-penalty shots. He has also averaged 8.37 touches in the opposition box and has hit the target with 80% of his efforts. Kane is joined in the attack by Liam Delap, who has a Squawka Score of 48%. The new Chelsea signing is yet to score in the Premier League but he has averaged 0.61 non-penalty post-shot xG this season. Jarrod Bowen completes the selection with a Score of 48%, averaging 3.0 non-penalty shots per 90.