Should James Ward-Prowse be on the plane to Qatar?

Southampton have started their Premier League season well, picking up a commanding victory against Chelsea in their most recent fixture, despite being doubted by many of their counterparts.

Life on the south coast couldn't be easier for the Saints.

However, the impetus of the ever-consistent Saints midfielder, James Ward-Prowse, will leave England manager Gareth Southgate with an intense headache over the decision of who deserves a ticket to the 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar.

The versatile midfielder has already recorded one goal and one assist this campaign, and he is vital in terms of passing the ball, taking set pieces and creating chances for his Southampton side.

He scored a free kick in the season opener when facing Tottenham Hotspur, which highlighted the threat he possesses if his side gets brought down in dangerous places outside the 18-yard box.

Despite having a selection dilemma, Southgate is fortunate to have a wealth of midfield players to choose from when selecting who he will hand a place on the plane to the Middle East.

Holding options such as Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips and West Ham's Declan Rice proved they are capable of the challenge in last year's delayed Euros.

On the other hand, since Philips' move from Leeds United to Man City, the young player has been out of favour with manager Pep Guardiola,  often favouring Rodri in the deeper role.

• Set piece King!

Over the past decade, Ward-Prowse has become one of, if not the best, set-piece takers in European football.

He has scored 15 free kicks in his league career and has been quoted as the best in the world by many pundits and ex-pros around the world.

In England's 2018 World Cup semi-final against Croatia, full-back Kieran Trippier opened the scoring for the Three Lions with a free kick that sailed into the top corner.

As Trippier is also not guaranteed a ticket to Qatar, paired with the country's inconsistencies from the penalty spot as highlighted in their loss in the Euro final last year against Italy, Ward-Prowse's set piece pedigree could be of benefit to England.

In addition, the 27-year-old is also the main corner taker for his club and generates great amounts of speed, whip and swing when he delivers the ball into the box.

Over the last seven seasons, the Englishman has gradually increased his creative and goalscoring output from dead-ball situations. In the 2015/16 campaign, Ward-Prowse scored twice and assisted four times from penalties and free-kicks.

This was a statistic that only grew as, in the following five seasons, he would go on to score 27 and assist 17. And in the last campaign alone, the midfielder directly contributed to 15 goals through his setpiece mastery. 

• Is Southampton the place for him to receive the nod?

After another successful season for Ward-Prowse, where he scored ten goals and assisted five, he has yet again been rumoured to move club during the transfer window.

With a likely price tag of £25m, clubs such as Manchester United, Man City and West Ham were all linked with the Englishman earlier this Summer. 

But what if one of these moves had materialised?

What if Man United, for example, who need to strengthen their midfield, had put pen to paper and signed him?

Would he then have had more opportunities to showcase his potential and secure that place on the plane?

Firstly, a team such as Man United have far greater possession of the ball throughout the season compared to a lower-table team such as Southampton.

In the 2021/22 season, Man united managed 19,035 passes which ranked fifth in the league, while the Saints could only muster 15,288, leaving them only the 13th best in the league.

If Ward-Prowse had been at Man United, he would have had more chances to impact the game by moving the ball and would have likely created more chances to both score and assist.

The 13-time Premier League winners also had more possession last season, averaging 53% a game while Southampton had, on average, 6% less a game at 47%.

This will have meant the England hopeful will have had to spend more time sitting deeper while the other team had the ball and defending, meaning he couldn't have as much of an impact moving forward.

How does he compare against the others?

In the European championships last year, Southgate seemed content with his midfield base of Phillips and Rice due to them complimenting each other's style of play at the base of the midfield.

On the other hand, the pair did not build on this success, with both players having a fairly quiet 2021/22 Premier League season, despite being expected to shine.

Though solid defensively, the pair offered little going forward compared to other League players in the same position, and he did not contribute to as many goals as Southgate would have expected.

The manager will have been hoping for an increased presence during the start of the current 2022/23 season to justify his prolonged trust in the duet.

However, since Philips's move from Leeds United to Man City, he has not started a league game and has only appeared once off the bench, this lack of game time may mean Southgate will struggle to be able to include him in his trusted World Cup XI.

Another player who will be on the England coach's radar is Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, who starred while on a season-long loan at Crystal Palace last campaign.

The 22-year-old was instrumental for Palace, scoring and creating goals regularly and consequently made his debut for his country against Slovenia as a substitute.

Like Ward-Prowse, the young player has less experience playing for his country, but based on form, looks likely to be a part of Southgate's plans for the Winter.

Below is a table comparing how these four World Cup hopefuls compared domestically - both going forwards and in defence in the 2021/22 Premier League season.

Will he be on the plane?

With it still being early in the current season, and there still being plenty of England games ahead of the tournament in Qatar, it is still anyone's place to win.

Phillips will likely be the most worried of the hopefuls due to his lack of game time since his transfer to Man City and will hope that he can impress if selected for the upcoming international fixtures.

Following a monumental 2-1 victory for Southampton over Chelsea on Tuesday night, Ward-Prowse will likely be more fired up than ever to inspire his Saints side to climb the Premier League table and cement his place in the England squad.