Predicting England's World Cup Squad

2. Jesse Lingard

England Under 21 manager Gareth Southgate during the squad announcement at St George's Park, Burton upon Trent.
Barrington Coombs/EMPICS Sport

Jesse Lingard is another England player coming off his best season yet, scoring 13 goals in all competitions for Manchester United which, as with Raheem Sterling, surpassed his totals for the previous two years combined.

Though not always picked in the first 11, Lingard has evolved into a reliable, genuine attacking threat for Manchester United, and is a player every opposition needs to consider heavily in their pre-game tactics.

It would seem that Lingard, Rashford and Sterling will all be challenging for the two starting winger spots in Russia, and one thing that may work against the former Derby County man is his lack of international experience.

Despite being the oldest of the three, Lingard has no tournament experience, and just 10 caps, which is seven fewer than Rashford, and 27 fewer than Sterling.

Expect Jesse Lingard to be named in the 23 man squad, but don't expect the youngster to start against Tunisia.

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