Top 5 England Players at Risk of Missing FIFA World Cup; Trent Alexander Arnold and Harry Maguire Lead List

• Three Lions head coach Gareth Southgate will have the difficult task of choosing a side that will represent England in Qatar
• Some of his top stars have put in questionable performances this season and could face the axe
• Defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Maguire lead the list of players who find themselves hanging precariously

The FIFA World Cup is two months away and national team managers will use this last international break to fine-tune their squads.

The managers usually don't have a lot of time to work on their players and often depend on their club's form. Gareth Southgate will once again lead his England side as prime favourites, given that he has a star-studded squad at his disposal.

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But with a talented squad comes the difficult task of choosing the final team that will represent the country. Going by how Europe's major leagues have started, Sports Brief, takes a look at the top England stars that Southgate might overlook.

1. Trent Alexander-Arnold

The Liverpool fullback has begun the season in a pathetic fashion and has been directly culpable in some of the goals his side has conceded this term. His talent is still intact, as he exhibited in Liverpool's 9-0 win over Bournemouth.

But at the moment, he will have to outperform Reece James, who's arguably the world's best right-back this season. Kyle Walker also ranks ahead of him as his pace and agility will come in handy.

2. Harry Maguire

The Manchester United skipper has been relegated to the bench following the arrival of Lisandro Martinez. Southgate has maintained his faith in him for the Nations League matches, but it will be interesting to see if he keeps his position for Qatar with AC Milan's Fikayo Tomori, Spurs' Eric Dier and Arsenal's Ben White pushing for spots.

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3. Mason Mount

The Chelsea star is yet to register a goal contribution this term. His loss of form is part of Chelse's lacklustre start to the season. Southgate might opt to drop him and go with other forwards of number 10's such as Jadon Sancho, who has made a positive start this season.

4. Luke Shaw

Like Maguire, Shaw has seen his place in the United's squad taken over by new signing Tyrell Malacia. Southgate has the options of Kieran Trippier and Ben Chilwell, who's finding his feet after that dangerous injury last season.

5. Jordan Henderson

Henderson's lack of pace and dwindling fortunes might see Southgate prefer the likes of Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham. He might benefit from Kalvin Phillips's recent injury struggles and his proven leadership record, but it's a long shot.

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Sports Brief had earlier reported that with the FIFA World Cup now barely two months away, African football lovers, particularly Senegal fans, are losing sleep over the loss of form of the star players in Aliou Cisse's squad.

Cisse led Senegal to its maiden Africa Cup of Nations title at the start of this year after beating Egypt on post-match penalties. They then beat the same opponents to book their spot in Qatar.

The Teranga Lions will be the continent's hope at the event after getting a favourable group on paper. They are set to face the Netherlands, hosts Qatar and South American opposition Ecuador in Group A.