Alli left benched by Southgate for England v Italy

Jesse Lingard and Raheem Sterling have been picked over Dele Alli in the attacking midfield roles for England against Italy.

Published : Mar 28, 2018 00:02 IST

Dele Alli has been left on the bench by England manager Gareth Southgate for Tuesday's friendly against Italy at Wembley.

The 21-year-old Tottenham star was widely expected to start having featured as a substitute during Friday's 1-0 win over Netherlands but Jesse Lingard, the match-winner in Amsterdam, retains his place in the XI and starts alongside Manchester City's Raheem Sterling in one of the attacking midfield berths behind Jamie Vardy.

Alli is widely viewed as one of the brightest talents in the English game and he scored 18 Premier League goals as Spurs finished as runners-up last season, although his form has tailed off to an extent this term.

Burnley's James Tarkowski will make his international debut alongside City duo Kyle Walker and John Stones in Southgate's back three, while Alli's Tottenham team-mate Eric Dier replaces Jordan Henderson in holding midfield as captain and Manchester United's Ashley Young makes his first England start in five years at left wing-back.

Italy also have a key midfielder on the bench, with Paris Saint-Germain's Marco Verratti not risked from the start after limping off during Friday's 2-0 defeat against Argentina in Manchester.

Veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon makes way for Gianluigi Donnarumma, while Chelsea's Davide Zappacosta starts at right-back.

Interim boss Luigi Di Biagio has named Roma youngster Lorenzo Pellegrini in Verratti's place, with Inter's Antonio Candreva preferred to Federico Chiesa on the right-hand side of attack.

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