After an abysmal World Cup campaign for the Three Lions, the England side met with each other at London Colney in preparation of their friendly - Norway. Roy Hodgson's men will face Norway at Wembley in order to prepare for their opening European Qualifier against Switzerland in just six days.
Team News:
England:
A new-look England squad has been picked for the two international over the next fortnight. Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole will no longer be apart of the squad having retired from international football, the latter retiring before the World Cup. Roy Hogdson has called four uncapped players into the squad, along with the majority of the World Cup squad. Luke Shaw does miss out with a hamstring injury. The squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster, Ben Foster, Joe Hart
Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Calum Chambers, Phil Jagielka, Phil Jones, Danny Rose, John Stones
Midfielders: Jack Colback, Fabian Delph, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Raheem Sterling, Andros Townsend, Jack Wilshere
Forwards: Rickie Lambert , Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck
Norway:
The Norwegians failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup but will be looking to go into the European Qualifiers next week with a full head of steam. The experienced Morten Gamst Pedersen and Alexander Tettey return to the squad, with all players having been capped previously. The squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Rune Jarstein, Ørjan Nyland, Andre Hansen
Defenders: Tom Høgli, Håvard Nordtveit, Vegard Forren, Omar Elabdellaoui, Martin Linnes, Vegar Eggen Hedenstad, Fredrik Semb Berge, Per Egil Flo
Midfielders: Morten Gamst Pedersen, Ruben Yttergård Jenssen, Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Alexander Tettey, Stefan Johansen, Anders Konradsen, Mats Møller Dæhli, Jone Samuelsen, Mohamed Elyounoussi
Forwards: Tarik Elyounoussi, Joshua King, Ola Kamara, Håvard Nielsen
Prediction:
With Switzerland to come on Monday, England need a good result to lift the spirits of not just the players but also the fans after the disappointment of going out in the group stage at the World Cup. Norway will also need momentum going into their group opener versus the group favourites, Italy. That being said, England should prevail with the amount of quality and experience in the squad. England 3-0 Norway.