Gallagher 'set to replace' Alexander-Arnold in England midfield | OneFootball

England boss Gareth Southgate is set to abandon his experiment of playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in England’s EURO 2024 Group C clash with Slovenia on Tuesday.

That’s according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, who reports on Monday that Conor Gallagher is expected to come into the starting XI to replace Alexander-Arnold as England look to put a couple of underwhelming performances behind them.

Gallagher was brought on as a substitute to replace Alexander-Arnold in both the 1-0 win over Serbia and the 1-1 draw with Denmark at the tournament so far, and it seems Southgate will now hand the Chelsea midfielder a starting berth against Slovenia.

Alexander-Arnold – who has been deployed mostly as a right-back during his career – came in for criticism for his performances so far this summer, prompting team-mate Declan Rice to leap to his defence on Monday.

“It’s funny because people were calling for Trent to play in midfield. Half the country are calling for Trent to play in midfield, and then you play him in midfield, and then you want to bring him down,” said Rice in an interview with ITV.

“I don’t get it, I don’t get it at all. I’ll defend all of my boys until the day I never pull on an England shirt. Trent is one of the best players I’ve ever seen. Don’t call for someone to play in a position and then backtrack all because you think he’s had a bad game or something.

“I’ll tell you now: Trent can play in midfield. I’ve seen it at England, I’ve seen it for Liverpool, he’s unbelievable. That’s what I say to the people who say that type of stuff.”

The Three Lions lead Group C on four points, and will hope to beat Slovenia in Köln, which would secure a first-placed finish.