We are now just 48 hours away from the Three Lions' opening match at Euro 2024, and a survey conducted by Sky Bet has revealed the fan-voted England XI for the game against Serbia.
Ultimately, our opinions as supporters mean very little in regard to the final team selection, but it is interesting to discuss nonetheless.
The fan-voted England XI for Serbia clash
Contents
England XI vs Serbia as voted for by fans
The fans have spoken 🦁
In a recent survey, we asked @England fans to vote for their starting XI against Serbia at #euro2024
Using available players only, here are the results👇 pic.twitter.com/xwjtquw1zX
— Sky Bet (@SkyBet) June 14, 2024
There aren't too many surprises in the side, but there are a few selections which could potentially be controversial among the fanbase on a wider scale.
Defence
The foundation on which the side will be built, and widely considered to be Gareth Southgate's biggest strength from a tactical point of view, is the defence, and that is where we shall start.
Ahead of Jordan Pickford, supporters voted for a back four comprised of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Joe Gomez and Luke Shaw.
This portion of the team already has three potential talking points that could divide the fanbase. Those being Walker's selection at right-back instead of the more creative Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gomez's inclusion over Marc Guehi and Shaw's selection given his current fitness issues.
Midfield
Unsurprisingly, both Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham have been voted for, making up two-thirds of the Three Lions midfield. However, there has been plenty of discussion from supporters online regarding who should be picked as the third player alongside them.
The main candidates were Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kobie Mainoo, with the latter beating out his teammate in the survey.
If Southgate echoed that decision, Alexander-Arnold would be omitted from the starting eleven altogether, which could lead to a potentially huge backlash should things go wrong against Serbia.
Attack
The side's strongest attribute is its attack, and as was to be expected, the fans have chosen Harry Kane to spearhead the team. There is little debate over that decision, but there has been more discourse surrounding the two wide options to support him.
In the end, fans voted for Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden to start on the right and left flanks respectively. But, with players such as Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon demoted to the bench as a result, that too is likely to be controversial online.
Online reaction to fan-voted England XI
As alluded to, the starting eleven has received a lot of attention on social media from fans disagreeing with several selections.
One fan took to X, formerly Twitter, in strong support of Alexander-Arnold, saying: “You can’t leave Trent out. Has to start instead of Walker and be given that hybrid role like at Liverpool.”
While another supporter decided to focus on the selection of Joe Gomez at centre-back, claiming that “Gomez is not better than Guehi or Dunk.”
A third fan simply added: “I always have a problem with Foden on the flanks.”