Leicester City

Leicester City: Tim Sherwood backs James Maddison to make England squad

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Image for Leicester City: Tim Sherwood backs James Maddison to make England squad

Pundit Tim Sherwood has backed Leicester City attacking midfielder James Maddison to be selected for Gareth Southgate’s England World Cup squad. 

Sherwood was speaking on TalkSport about his thoughts on the clamour for the Foxes star to get into the Three Lions squad with the World Cup less than two weeks away.

Maddison, who has been described as “magnificent” by commentator David Connolly, has enjoyed an excellent campaign for Leicester so far this season, having scored six goals and provided four assists in 12 Premier League appearances.

However, the 25-year-old has not made an appearance for England since his one and only cap in a EURO qualifier against Montenegro back in November 2019.

But Sherwood believes that his performances this season have given him a great chance of being on the plane to Qatar. 

Sherwood said: “Anyone can play well in a good side. But when your team’s not doing brilliantly like Leicester weren’t at the beginning of the season, he was standing up.

“He was the one who was trying to pull them through that rough period.

“I think he’d done all he could and he showed a lot of character. For me, he’s on the plane, 100%. 

“There’s so many around that position, though.”

TIF Thoughts on Sherwood’s comments…

We think at this point in time, there should be no doubt as to whether Southgate takes Maddison to the World Cup.

The £60m-valued man has got more goal involvements since August 2021 (30) than players such as Bukayo Saka (27), Phil Foden (23) and Raheem Sterling (22), who you would also expect to be selected for the Three Lions’ World Cup squad.

And compared to midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues and European competition, the Foxes star ranks in the top 1% for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes (0.52) over the last 365 days according to FBref, showing that he is a presence that Southgate really cannot afford to leave at home.

Therefore, we believe that the evidence and stats stack up in favour of Maddison earning himself a spot in the England World Cup squad and we would be surprised if he wasn’t at least involved in the side’s campaign later this month.

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