The European Championships look set to go ahead this summer after a 12-month delay following the pandemic.
As it stands, 12 countries will continue to host the tournament with London’s Wembley Stadium hosting both semi-finals and the final.
The English Premier League is expected to provide the most players for the tournament and here are our picks of those best eleven players:
Goalkeeper: Rui Patricio
England have their issues in goal, David de Gea has lost his place to Dean Henderson and both Manchester City and Liverpool have Brazilian shot stoppers. Wolverhampton Wanderers may be supplying the best goalkeeper this summer with Portugal’s Rui Patricio.
Right-back: Trent Alexander-Arnold
Gareth Southgate is spoiled for choice when it comes to right-backs and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold could edge out the likes of Kieran Tierney and Kyle Walker for this spot. Not only that he’s arguably the best right-back headed to the Euros from the Premier League. And he’ll be playing for England who have the shortest Euro 2021 kertoimet heading into the summer.
Centre-back: Virgil van Dijk
Arguably the best centre-back in the world last season, Virgil van Dijk is hoping to be fit in time to represent the Netherlands at this summer’s tournament. The centre-back has been a huge loss for Liverpool in what has been a poor attempt at defending their title. Van Dijk’s absence has been huge.
Centre-back: Ruben Dias
Manchester City’s defensive woes were their undoing in the Premier League and Champions League last season. The addition of Ruben Dias over the summer seems to have changed all that. Pep Guardiola’s side are running away with the league and in the final four in Europe’s elite club cup competition for only the second time in their history. Watch out for the Portuguese star to be a key factor in his country’s progress this summer.
Left-back: Ben Chilwell
There aren’t too many starting left-backs for the immediate favourites that play in the Premier League and that position in the England lineup is still up for debate. Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell may edge out Manchester United’s Luke Shaw as he has been doing to date. The youngster can defend and put a good cross into the box.
Defensive midfield: N’Golo Kante
Although performing below his best at times over the past two seasons for Chelsea, N’Golo Kante is still one of the elite in this position across the world. Although he doesn’t dominate the Chelsea news headlines, he is a key component of the Chelsea team.
Playing for the world champions and one of the bookmakers’ favourites this summer, you can expect to see a lot of the energetic midfielder.
Central midfield: Paul Pogba
Although inconsistent for Manchester United, Paul Pogba shows up for his country. As he showed for France three years ago in helping his country win the World Cup, expect Pogba to star this summer in Didier Deschamps’ side.
Central midfield: Ilkay Gundogan
In the running for the Premier League Player of the Season, Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan has won 45 caps for the German national team to date and will be looking to increase that over the summer. He’ll be competing in the group of death which includes France, Portugal and Hungary.
Right forward: Gareth Bale
Once the world’s most expensive player, Gareth Bale finds himself on loan at Tottenham Hotspur this season. And the Welsh winger has refound his form of old lately, almost timing it perfectly with the European Championships.
Striker: Harry Kane
A leading contender for the Golden Boot heading into the tournament and with a favourable group, expect Harry Kane to be among the top scorers this summer even as he dominates the Tottenham news headlines for a possible move away from White Hart Lane. Provided the Spurs striker is fully fit.
Left forward: Raheem Sterling
Facing stiff competition from Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho to start down the left in Gareth Southgate’s front three, Raheem Sterling has yet to really deliver at a major tournament for England. Now 26 years old surely this is the summer for the Manchester City star to do so?
