roy hodgson is holding his cards close to his chest with england’s squad due to be announced this week england meet lithuania at wembley in euro 2016 qualifying on march 27 before travelling to the juventus stadium in turin for a friendly with italy four days later the last time england played was in mid november, when they beat scotland and slovenia with wayne rooney, danny welbeck, rickie lambert and saido berhaino yet the contenders have arrived harry kane, daniel sturridge, charlie austin and danny ings are among those that could be selected, and hodgson is set to pick four from the eight available so, stick or twist? well, here are the numbers that may sway hodgson’s decision one way or another england captain wayne rooney, pictured celebrating against scotland, looks a certainty to be picked  harry kane, tottenham hotspur  against arsenal on february 7, kane scored twice in front of watching england manager hodgson to win the north london derby it was deja vu on march 8, when the 21 year old added two more against queens park rangers yet again in front of the england manager if that doesn’t convince, perhaps these statistics will:  • only lionel messi and cristiano ronaldo (both 41) have scored more than kane (26) in all competitions this season  • only sergio aguero and diego costa (both 17) have more premier league goals but kane (16) did not start a game until november 9  • kane has scored 14 in his last 13 premier league games and became the fourth player in history to score in six consecutive away games  • his goals have contributed a staggering 19 points in the premier league this season  and we could go on kane is used to leading a 4 2 3 1 at tottenham, and would have to adapt to a partnership in hodgson’s classic 4 4 2 midfield diamond formation even so, the question is not should hodgson pick the highest scoring englishman, but rather how could he not? verdict: should go  tottenham hotspur striker harry kane beats queens park rangers goalkeeper robert green last week  kane celebrates one of his many goals this season as the striker gets noticed in the premier league  kane will hope to be involved in roy hodgson's england squad when it is announced this week  charlie austin, queens park rangers  qpr vs tottenham was billed as the battle of the two best kids on the playground yet, with teacher watching on, kane overshadowed his potential england team mate but austin, seemingly carrying the third bottom team in the premier league, remains the fourth top goalscorer (15), just one behind the man with better service at white hart lane shoot on sight, seems to be the strategy austin ranks first in total shots (61) and shooting accuracy (67 per cent) out of the eight potential england forwards, having played more minutes (2,169) than any of the others this season austin’s goals have contributed 45 per cent of qpr’s points this season, and manager chris ramsey reckons he and kane would complement each other in a front two partnership verdict: should go  qpr striker charlie austin scores against arsenal at loftus road earlier in march in the premier league  england hopeful austin is in contention to be selected by hodgson when his squad is announced this week  wayne rooney, manchester united  rooney, no longer being restricted to deep midfield, was restored to an attacking role recently, and scored twice against sunderland to show he hasn’t lost his touch he’s joint first for chance conversion (29 per cent) and assists (four), and hodgson previously announced he has no intention of using him as anything other than a striker was that a bluff? rooney could still be used as an attacking midfielder or auxiliary forward behind two strikers, without wishing to step on raheem sterling’s toes as no 10 rooney looked comfortable up top against arsenal on monday night, scoring manchester united’s only goal in a 2 1 defeat ‘he’s our captain and nearly the record goalscorer,’ hodgson said in february ‘it would take a lot from a 19 or 20 year old to replace a man up front with over 100 caps’ never say never, but rooney surely has a place reserved, whether that be as a striker or otherwise verdict: should go  wayne rooney has become the regular face of england and is set to be selected once more by hodgson  rooney celebrates ashley young's wining goal at st james' park for louis van gaal's manchester united  daniel sturridge, liverpool  sturridge is just returning from a thigh and hamstring injury that cost him five months, but has the third best minutes per goal ratio (175) of the eight strikers the fit again liverpool forward started against blackburn rovers and burnley, rather than sterling being used in the centre, as the youngster had been against manchester city and southampton easing sturridge back in to middle of liverpool’s 3 4 3 is only natural, but he should be fit enough to be used internationally this month plenty are calling for england to adopt sturrikane, and we know the former chelsea forward has no qualms in developing a partnership, as he showed with luis suarez sturridge can create something from nothing, and he and the young tottenham forward could click, if hodgson fancies it verdict: should go  liverpool striker daniel sturridge heads his goal against burnley in the premier league at anfield  the ball nestles in the back of the net as sturridge continues his recovery from an injury that cost months  sturridge runs away in celebration after scoring for liverpool as he continues his return to fitness  saido berahino, west bromwich albion  nobody can say berahino isn’t a workhorse the only player to have featured in all 28 premier league games, he has an admirable 12 goals and dominated back pages when he was selected by hodgson in november yet he never made it off the substitutes’ bench against slovenia or scotland, and it led to a run of eight games without a goal for west brom he broke that duck against west ham with an equaliser on new year’s day, before letting his frustration out on poor, old gateshead with four goals in a 7 0 humiliation in the fa cup third round hodgson has put plenty of faith in his young lions previously, and could well choose to give the 21 year old his england debut in march but the fight to be hodgson’s fourth striker arguably rests between berahino, ings, austin and welbeck for me, the pendulum swings the way of the qpr striker more than the rest verdict: should not go  west bromwich albion striker saido berahino is in contention to be selected by england manager hodgson  berahino runs away in celebration after scoring for west brom in the premier league against aston villa  berahino could be selected  as he continues to show why he deserves a place in the england team  danny ings, burnley  what about the chap wanted by liverpool, both manchester clubs and real sociedad? ings has scored nine goals for second bottom burnley – five of them in 2015 alone – and has the joint most assists of the lot (four) young and english with plenty to prove, he’s beating the odds week in, week out perhaps it is that which convinced louis van gaal to send chief scout jim lawlor to anfield last week when burnley were in town sean dyche fielded the first all british premier league xi in december since 2011, and ings is among those taking his chance in a team that use similar formations to england – 4 4 1 1 and 4 4 2 ings has scored four goals in seven games for the england under 21 team, but a call up can only come if he proves more worthy than his competition, and that’s a tall ask verdict: should not go yet  danny ings is wanted by a number of top premier league clubs and could be called up by england  ings is being looked at by manchester united, manchester city and liverpool as he is likely to leave burnley  danny welbeck, arsenal  against slovenia in november, welbeck scored twice in the euro 2016 qualifier as england won 3 1 same again? he played as a lone striker against his former club at old trafford, scored, and celebrated arsenal opted for 4 2 3 1 that night, although they tend to alter between 4 1 4 1 and 4 4 1 1 with olivier giroud the preferred striker but welbeck seized the day, pouncing on antonio valencia’s suicidal back pass and making no mistake yet this season has not gone according to plan for arsenal forward he’s ranked last for minutes per goals (379) out of the eight, as well as bringing up the rear in chance conversion (11 per cent) does he deserve a spot more than kane, ings or austin? not according to the rankings verdict: should not go  danny welbeck trains with arsenal as the premier league club look to clinch champions league football  welbeck has had a dip in form recently but will be looking to clinch a place in the england team once more  rickie lambert, liverpool  lambert got 10 minutes against scotland in november, having gone to brazil for the 2014 world cup, hardly getting a look in the 33 year old’s rankings tell the story better in 19 appearances in the premier league, he ranks last for goals (2), shots (12), and, for a man with aerial ability, is the only one of the eight to not have scored a header it would be bold to argue those with more than a decade on the liverpool striker are less worthy to be included in hodgson’s squad, and it seems lambert’s time has been and gone the consistency of kane and austin, among others, has blitzed the man on the wrong side of 30, and it’s time for the young blood verdict: should not go  rickie lambert has found life difficult since joining liverpool and is unlikely to be selected by hodgson  it would be surprising if lambert (pictured right with fabio borini in training) was picked for the england team  should go: rooney, kane, sturridge, austin  should not go: welbeck, berahino, ings, lambert 
this season rickie lambert daniel sturridge lithuania roy hodgson danny ings harry kane march 31 italy danny welbeck england liverpool manchester united charlie austin wayne rooney march 27
england face lithuania on march 27 and italy in a friendly on march 31  roy hodgson is likely to select four strikers in his three lions squad  harry kane and charlie austin have been in fine form so far this season  captain wayne rooney has played in midfield for manchester united  daniel sturridge has returned to action with liverpool after a long absence  danny welbeck, rickie lambert and danny ings also in contention 