England boss hands Joe Gomez Spain start

England boss Gareth Southgate has heaped praise on centre-back Joe Gomez ahead of the Three Lions’ match against Spain in Seville tonight.

Gomez, 21, will receive his fifth England cap if he plays tonight in place of John Stones, who is suspended following the Croatia match on Friday.

Southgate, who led England to the World Cup semi-finals in the summer, believes the Liverpool defender has a great opportunity tonight.

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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sunday, December 10, 2017: Liverpool’s Joe Gomez and Everton’s Glyfi Sigurdsson during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool and Everton, the 229th Merseyside Derby, at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

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“Joe’s in really good form for his club,” said Southgate.

“In his matches for us, against Spain and Brazil, he has given really polished performances.

“He’s a young defender but a very good defender. He has got great athleticism and uses the ball well. I’m looking forward to seeing him in this game.

“It’s another opportunity to look at a couple of younger players. We’re slowly building a squad who are comfortable at this level.”

Jordan Henderson will return to Melwood later this week after picking up a suspension for the Spain game, but the Liverpool captain remained with his international compatriots for a ‘leadership meeting.’

“We lose John and Jordan so there will be opportunities for others,” said Southgate.

“We’re going to be playing in front of 60,000 people and we want to be as competitive as we can.

“We don’t want to overburden players. Around friendly matches we can be more sensible but it’s difficult around these games.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com