• Liverpool right back withdrew from the England squad with a thigh injury he sustained on Wednesday

England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold will miss Euro 2020 with a thigh injury suffered in Wednesday’s friendly against Austria. Alexander-Arnold limped off in the closing stages of England’s 1-0 win after sustaining the injury while clearing the ball.
The Liverpool right-back looked emotional as he was helped around the pitch and England manager Gareth Southgate admitted after the game that it was “not a good sign”.
Alexander-Arnold had a scan on the problem yesterday and the 22-year-old is expected to be sidelined for six weeks, which will rule him out of the European Championship.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out of UEFA Euro 2020,” a Football Association statement said. “The Liverpool player sustained a thigh injury in the closing stages of Wednesday’s 1-0 win against Austria in Middlesbrough. A scan on Thursday confirmed the 22-year-old will be unable to play in the forthcoming tournament so has withdrawn from the England squad to return to his club for rehabilitation. Gareth Southgate will not confirm a replacement until after Sunday’s return to the Riverside Stadium for the warm-up fixture against Romania.”
England play their first group match against Croatia at Wembley on June 13, before hosting Scotland and the Czech Republic in their other games. Alexander-Arnold’s withdrawal completes a whirlwind period for the defender, who had to endure reports he would not make Southgate’s 26-man squad before learning of his inclusion on Tuesday.
Southgate has plenty of cover for Alexander-Arnold, who finished the season in fine form for Liverpool after an erratic period earlier in the campaign. Manchester City’s Kyle Walker, Chelsea’s Reece James and Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier were the three other right-backs picked by Southgate for the tournament.
Southgate named Jesse Lingard, Ben White, Ben Godfrey, James Ward-Prowse and Ollie Watkins on his outfield stand-by list in case of injuries. He could replace Alexander-Arnold with another defender in Brighton’s White or Everton Godfrey, who both made their England debuts as substitutes against Austria. If Southgate wants to call up a more attacking option, he will choose from Manchester United’s Lingard, Aston Villa’s Watkins or Southampton’s Ward-Prowse. Southgate is also sweating on the fitness of Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson and Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish.
Maguire is unlikely to be fit for the Croatia game as he recovers from ankle ligament damage, while Henderson hasn’t played since February after groin surgery. Grealish, just back from a shin injury, needed an ice pack on his leg after being subjected to a series of rough tackles in the Austria clash.
Unable to call on players from Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United following their European finals, Southgate sent out an experimental team against Austria. It was Bukayo Saka who staked a claim for a place in the starting line-up for their tournament opener against Croatia at Wembley on June 13.
The 19-year-old Arsenal winger was a lively presence on the left flank and capped his eye-catching display with a composed second half finish for his first England goal. “It’s an amazing feeling for me, probably the biggest moment of my career,” Saka said.
Aside from his selection issues, Southgate will be alarmed that a section of the 8,000 crowd loudly booed the England players when they took a knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement before kick-off.
“I did hear it. It’s not something on behalf of our black players that I wanted to hear, because it feels like a criticism of them,” Southgate said. “Some people think it is a political gesture that they don’t agree with, but that is not the case. I was pleased it was drowned out with applause.”
England lacked a cutting edge in the first half but they carved open the Austrians to take the lead in the 57th minute. Harry Kane’s pass picked out Jesse Lingard just inside the Austria area and his attempt to find Jack Grealish was diverted to Saka, who had the simple task of slotting into the empty net from close range.
Southgate had challenged Lingard to “show me I’m wrong”, but the Manchester United forward was unable to replicate the fine form he showed on loan at West Ham. Grealish was more impressive as the midfielder offered flashes of his playmaking quality. “Jack showed some lovely touches. You can see he’s still getting to full fitness, with the bursts you know he can make. He’s a quality player,” Southgate said.