Marcus Rashford and three others doubtful as Sancho and Maguire eye England call-ups

MANCHESTER UNITED duo Jadon Sancho and Harry Maguire will be hopeful for England call-ups this week as they aim for a spot in Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad — but teammate Marcus Rashford is now a question due to injury.

England will play Italy and Germany in the Nations League later this month, the final opportunity for Southgate to assess players before the World Cup kicks off against Iran in Doha on November 21.

Southgate, who will reveal his selection this afternoon, has stood with United captain Maguire despite his shaky form at the heart of the Red Devils’ defense in recent months – but he has now lost his spot under Erik ten Hag.

Maguire started the first two games of the season, including a 4-0 defeat against Brentford, but has since been on the bench in the Premier League.

Maguire could keep his place due to a lack of true contenders, with Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings also not having had the ideal start to the season.

Conor Coady joined Everton on loan from Wolves to boost his prospects, while Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori are other options, while Ben White has been playing right-back for Arsenal.

There is also speculation over United forwards Rashford and Sancho, who were left out of the Nations League squad in June.

Rashford’s strong start to the season, with three goals in six games, would have put him in contention for a recall as he seeks to play for England for the first time since missing a penalty in last summer’s European Championship final shootout loss to Italy at Wembley.

Any position in Southgate’s squad is now under threat, according to the PA news agency, as an unidentified injury — which has stopped Rashford from traveling to Moldova for United’s Europa League clash at Sheriff tonight evening — could keep him out.

Sancho, who has only played once for England since missing his penalty in the final, has scored twice this season and has been instrumental in United’s recent strong surge.

Depending on Rashford’s fitness, the pair could muscle their way back into Southgate’s plans, especially with Jack Grealish having started just one Premier League game for Manchester City this season and Jesse Lingard virtually probably missing out despite routinely playing for Nottingham Forest.

Another United player in doubt is Luke Shaw, who was dropped by Ten Hag following the defeats to Brighton and Brentford.

With Shaw out of the picture, Southgate might turn to Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier at left-back, but he has more natural choices in Ben Chilwell and Tyrick Mitchell, as well as a senior call-up for Ryan Sessegnon.

Southgate has always advocated for selecting players based on their form, which means Brentford striker Ivan Toney has perhaps never had a better chance of making his debut.

Captain Harry Kane, who is closing in on the England goalscoring record, will undoubtedly be involved, but Toney is the most in-form back-up option to the Tottenham striker, having scored five goals in six Premier League games.

With Jordan Pickford out with a thigh injury and Aaron Ramsdale and Nick Pope set to be selected, Dean Henderson, who is on loan at Nottingham Forest, could win a return.