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Man City player is option to replace 21 y/o v Wales but Southgate might resist [Opinion]

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England didn’t play well in Friday’s 0-0 draw with USA and will play their third game in eight days when they lock horns with Wales on Tuesday night, so Gareth Southgate might look to rest a number of players that underperformed.

Vital Man City pondered whether Kyle Walker could replace Kieran Trippier and whether Jack Grealish could replace Raheem Sterling, but could Phil Foden come in for Buyako Saka?

England didn’t create a lot against USA, registering just three shots on target over the 90 minutes, so they might benefit from injecting some more creativity into the side.

And while Southgate brought on Marcus Rashford ahead of Foden, resulting in the former scoring just minutes after his introduction, it might make more sense to have the 22-year-old in Buyako Saka’s role for balance.

Should Grealish start ahead of Sterling on the opposing flank, England will have wide-men able to cut inside, allowing the full-backs to provide the width.

Saka failed to register a shot on target against USA, completed less than 80% of his passes, failed to make a successful dribble and failed to whip in an accurate cross, but Southgate might still resist swapping him for Foden.

In other news, Gareth Southgate could start Jack Grealish against Wales after Raheem Sterling struggled

The Vital Network is unique from other football content providers as all the sites are run by the fans, for the fans. We are looking for a writer to join our Manchester City site. If you can write well-constructed, thought-provoking opinion pieces alongside reporting on current events and breaking news then I want to hear from you. Email paddy@snack-media.com.

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He joined from Newcastle in 2000 and left to join FC Sochaux in 2003

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.