England or Scotland dilemma for these Newcastle United players | OneFootball

After winning two caps for England in the recent international double header against Brazil and Belgium, it would seem that Anthony Gordon’s international future lies very much with England.

Gordon had also been eligible to play for Scotland at international level and in a quirky twist of fate three others players on the books of Newcastle United could also still choose to represent England or Scotland.

Those players are Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento and Elliot Anderson.

With Scotland once again starting to qualify for international tournaments, the option of playing for Scotland holds considerably more appealing than it might have had in previous years.

In this article I analyse what I think each player should do.

Harvey Barnes

Barnes, who has been incredibly unlucky with injury since signing in the summer but is showing signs of finding his best form once again, has one England cap, which he claimed in October 2020 after coming on in a 3-0 friendly win over Wales.

Despite continuing his fine form for Leicester, including bagging 13 Premier League goals in 34 games last season, Gareth Southgate has shown no interest in awarding any further caps to Barnes.

Were Barnes to be approached by Scotland he should seriously consider taking up the offer.

Tino Livramento

Undoubtedly, one of the high points of the season has been the emergence of Tino Livramento.

While he came with a big price tag and therefore some expectation on his shoulders, I don’t think anybody expected him to make such an impact.

From the moment he ran the length of Old Trafford to set up Miggy Almiron for the first goal in that brilliant victory, he has looked completely at ease at the top level, typified by his brilliant performance away at PSG in the Champions League.

Comfortable on both sides of the defence, he is technically excellent and reads the game brilliantly.

England are blessed with talent on the right hand side of the defence but have struggled to find a left back with Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell having both struggled with injuries in recent seasons.

This summer might come too soon for Tino but surely only a matter of time before he catches the eye of Gareth Southgate or his successor.

Elliot Anderson

The player who has perhaps been most at heart of the debate.

Anderson, who after a decent start to the season has only just returned to first team action after a long injury absence, has clearly agonised over the decision of who to represent.

He has mainly represented Scotland at junior international level with caps from under 16 to under 21 level and made one unofficial appearance for England under 19s back in 2021.

His form at the start of this season saw Anderson called up for Steve Clarke’s full squad in August 2023 but he pulled out citing injury.

If I was in Anderson’s shoes I would be making the decision to play for Scotland.

Although clearly a talented player, he currently looks well short of the quality required to play for England and has a real job on his hands just establishing himself in Eddie Howe’s first team, when everyone is fit and firing.

Choosing Scotland over England proved to be the making of Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay and I firmly believe it could also be the making of Anderson.