England’s official pre-Euro 2024 ‘update’ drops major hint on Newcastle United duo

England’s Euro 2024 campaign begins next weekend when they take on Serbia at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen. Despite being defeated by Iceland in their final pre-tournament warm-up match, the Three Lions head to Germany as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

Gareth Southgate now faces a big call in which 11 he will pick for his side’s first game - with a couple of injury concerns to deal with. Both John Stones and Marc Guehi suffered knocks at Wembley, whilst Lewis Dunk missed out entirely through injury. Luke Shaw is also sidelined with injury and may not feature until the second group game.

Hints into Southgate’s thinking and his preferred starting side may have been leaked as England have revealed their squad numbers for the tournament. Neither Kieran Trippier nor Anthony Gordon, both of whom started against Iceland on Friday night, have been handed a number between 1 and 11 with Trippier given the number 12 shirt and Gordon handed 18.

If kit numbers are to go by, then Southgate’s preferred starting side would look like this: 1) Jordan Pickford, 2) Kyle Walker, 3) Luke Shaw, 4) Declan Rice, 5) John Stones, 6) Marc Guehi, 7) Bukayo Saka, 8) Trent Alexander-Arnold, 9) Harry Kane, 10) Jude Bellingham, 11) Phil Foden.

Naturally, worries over Shaw’s fitness could see Trippier start against Serbia at left-back, with the Manchester United man to come back into the fold when he is fully-fit. Gordon, meanwhile, will be keen to impress when given the opportunity and make that left wing spot his own as the tournament progresses.