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08th Oct 2016

England line up vs Malta: Jesse Lingard set to be named in Gareth Southgate’s first team

Big call from the caretaker boss in his first match in charge

Rob Burnett

Jesse Lingard could be set to make his England debut in Gareth Southgate’s first match in charge of the national side.

The Manchester United youngster was the notable call-up in Southgate’s first squad, and now there are reports that he will even make the starting line up as the Three Lions take on Malta.

The Sun claims the 23-year-old has been picked to start on the left, with Dele Alli and Theo Walcott alongside him, behind Daniel Sturridge up front.

It means Marcus Rashford will have to make do with a place on the bench.

The paper says Wayne Rooney and Jordan Henderson will anchor the midfield, while Ryan Bertrand and Kyle Walker play at full back.

John Stones and Gary Cahill will play in front of Joe Hart in goal.

Predicted line up:

Lingard has been in one senior England squad before – he was called up for a friendly against France in November last year, but did not play.

He has played for both the Under 21s and the Under 17s, so former England youth coach Southgate already knows him well.

The match at Wembley is England’s second Group F World Cup qualifier after the 1-0 win away at Slovakia last month – Sam Allardyce’s one and only match in charge before he was forced out of the job following the Telegraph’s football investigation.

**UPDATE**

The team has now been officially announced – and it is exactly as expected:

Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live right here…