Joe Gomez is set to start England’s opening Uefa Nations League match against Spain on Saturday with Luke Shaw also expected to be selected ahead of Danny Rose.

Gomez will be included as part of Gareth Southgate’s three-man defence with the England manager persisting with the 3-5-2 formation he used so effectively to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.

It is unclear who the Liverpool defender will replace in that back-line but given his preference to play on the right then it is expected to be Kyle Walker. Walker has expressed his desire to play at right-back or right wing-back but faces strong competition from his former Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Kieran Trippier.

Gomez did start on the left of the three – where Harry Maguire has been used – when he played in a friendly against Holland last spring before going off injured.

Gomez would have gone to Russia as part of Southgate’s squad had he not suffered the serious ankle injury which meant he missed the end of last season, including Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final.

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Gomez is highly-rated by Southgate who has shown his faith in the 21-year-old by bringing him straight back into his team and not just his squad to face Spain and then the friendly against Switzerland. Gomez has made an impressive start to the season partnering Virgil Van Dijk in the heart of the Liverpool defence in the absence of the injured Dejan Lovren.

“Joe is no surprise to us,” Southgate said. “I’ve worked with him since he was 17 and he has been an excellent defender through our system. He was one of our best defenders against Brazil (when he made his full debut in Nov 2017). It’s great he is getting to play at centre-back for Liverpool. It’s definitely a good moment for him.”

Meanwhile Shaw is expected to be rewarded for his impressive start to the season having started all four Premier League games, albeit in a struggling Manchester United side.

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The 23-year-old, who earlier this week spoke of how he almost lost a leg after his own horrific injury problems, has taken the place of Ashley Young for his club and Young has dropped out of the England squad as well as Shaw vies with Rose for the left wing-back berth. It appears Southgate, who is not making many changes to the team that did so well in Russia, is going to go with Shaw against Spain with Rose then expected to feature against Switzerland.

Southgate’s other big selection decision is who will play behind captain Harry Kane. With Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana ruled out injured it appears Southgate has to decide between playing Marcus Rashford or moving Dele Alli further forward. Given Alli has played in a deeper position for Spurs, of late, as well as featuring there for England then Southgate may prefer to keep him in that role and start with Rashford even though his partnership with Kane has not been profitable so far.