England XI for 2022 World Cup: Graeme Souness leaves out Trent Alexander-Arnold

The 2022 World Cup out in Qatar is now less than two months away.

On November 20th, the action in the Middle East kicks off with the host nation’s match against Ecuador in Group A.

The second match of the tournament sees England take on Iran and now we’re in the midst of an international break, fans and pundits alike are offering their take on who the Three Lions should start in the fixture.

One man who’s recently given it a go is Liverpool legend Graeme Souness and he’s certainly not let bias cloud his judgement.

Despite the fact Souness still adores the team he captained successfully for many, many years, not a single member of Jurgen Klopp’s squad makes his chosen England XI for the country’s World Cup opener.

Yes, that includes Trent Alexander-Arnold, who the Scotsman has heaped praise on in the past while on punditry duty with Sky Sports.

Souness has also left out both Mason Mount and Jack Grealish, with the pair of attacking midfielders really struggling for form at club level with Chelsea and Manchester City respectively in 2022/23.

The Liverpool legend said while a guest on talkSPORT: “I’ve gone with [Jordan] Pickford in goal, a back-three of [John] Stones, [Eric] Dier in the middle of a back-three with [Kyle] Walker.”

“Wing-backs of [Ben] Chilwell on the left and Reece James on the right.

“In the middle, [Declan] Rice and [Jude] Bellingham, then up front, [Raheem] Sterling, Kane and [Phil] Foden.

On Alexander-Arnold’s absence, Souness added: “Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool has been highlighted as not a very good defender but going forward there’s no one better. If you need to chase the game you’re getting Trent on because of his delivery.”

Souness’ England XI (3-4-3): Jordan Pickford (Everton), Kyle Walker