Guimaraes (Portugal) (AFP) – Raheem Sterling will captain England for the first time on his 50th cap in Thursday’s Nations League semi-final against the Netherlands, with Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson left on the bench.
Both Kane and Henderson were involved in Saturday’s Champions League final as Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 and England boss Gareth Southgate decided against starting any of the seven members of his squad who featured in Madrid.
Marcus Rashford starts in place of Kane up front, flanked by Sterling and Jadon Sancho with Declan Rice, Fabian Delph and Ross Barkley forming an experimental midfield trio.
The Netherlands do include two Champions League winners as Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum start, as do wonder kids Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong.
