Seven questions England boss Gareth Southgate must answer against Brazil & Belgium as Euro 2024 looms

Kobbie Mainoo's breakout season for Manchester United could not have been timed better from an England perspective. With the Three Lions scratching around to find Declan Rice a partner in the heart of midfield, along came Mainoo, who has blown onlookers away with his displays at Old Trafford since November.

While Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Sofyan Amrabat have all struggled at points, the teenager has never let Erik ten Hag down, with his insertion into the starting line-up coinciding with United's most positive run of results this season.

Southgate made the right call moving him up to the seniors from the Under-21 camp. Now, he must be brave and hand Mainoo a start in one of the two games coming up. It may seem like a steep learning curve, but England desperately need to solve their midfield conundrum, and the Three Lions boss needs to test the youngster's mettle ahead of this summer's tournament.

Mainoo is not the only midfielder with a lot riding on this international break, though. Ever since his ill-fated move to Al-Ettifaq last summer, Jordan Henderson's position in the England squad has been scrutinised more than any other player's.

Henderson is plying his trade at Ajax these days, and although Southgate has remained faithful to his trusted lieutenant, the jury is still very much out. The ex-Liverpool captain has endured a less-than-stellar start in Amsterdam, facing criticism for his overly safe passing and the side's poor results since his arrival.

Henderson's recent England performances haven't been impressive either, and while he's still almost certain to go to the tournament due to how highly Southgate seems to rate his leadership credentials, how many minutes he will actually play is less certain.

The Three Lions boss will be hoping his blue-eyed boy can silence some of the noise surrounding his continued inclusion with a good performance or two in the coming days. If he struggles again, Southgate will surely have to look elsewhere for an answer to his midfield woes.

The thought of Harry Kane getting injured is enough to send a cold shiver down the spine of any England fan. But the Three Lions captain provided an untimely reminder of his own mortality heading into the international break, worryingly limping out of Bayern Munich's Bundesliga win over Darmstadt last weekend.

And while Kane should be fit enough to feature in some capacity against Brazil and Belgium, his knock raises an important question. Namely, just how would Southgate replace his talisman if he went down this summer?

We should have a better idea of his thinking after these games as Ivan Toney and Ollie Watkins have both been included in the squad. Whichever one is handed more minutes is likely Kane's most probable replacement.

Saying that, could Southgate end up being a little more creative? Jude Bellingham has been thriving as a withdrawn centre-forward for Real Madrid this season and could feasibly perform a similar role for his country. Southgate did seem to pour cold water on this concept in a recent press conference, though, saying: "Regarding Jude, he is clearly playing as a false nine, so we need a balance between where he is doing well with something different too."

Regardless of what route Southgate wants to go down, getting a better idea of who's best placed to replace an absent Kane is an important goal for the international break.

For the past few years, England have been in a position of unrivalled strength at the full-back positions, but things are not looking quite as rosy heading into the Euros. Likely first-choice left-back Luke Shaw has barely played this season due to injury, Chelsea's Ben Chilwell has endured a testing campaign for several reasons while Kieran Trippier's form has been patchy.

This leaves the starting spot very much up for grabs, with Chilwell and Joe Gomez the only realistic options deemed fit enough for this most recent squad. It seems likely Southgate will rotate the pair across the two games, with Gomez providing more defensive solidity but not without sacrificing the Chelsea vice-captain's attacking thrust.

If neither impresses, it opens the door for a fit-again Shaw or Trippier to re-stake their claims for a spot in the line-up. There is likely several more twists and turns to come as Southgate decides on his starting left-back.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that John Stones and Harry Maguire will be England's go-to centre-back pairing for the Euros. But if one of them was unavailable, or if Southgate wanted to use a back three, the picture is far less clear.

Marc Guehi seemed to be high up on the pecking order, but the Crystal Palace captain's injury has thrown a spanner in the works. Fikayo Tomori has been handed minutes in the past too, but Southgate has never seemed to be fully convinced by the AC Milan defender.

In the current squad, Brighton's Lewis Dunk and Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite - called up for the first time - will be looking to impress, while Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa will be hoping to earn his first cap, having been in the camp previously. Levi Colwill might have been involved too if not for injury.

In short then, Southgate has a lot of different options at centre-back. And over the next two games, he'll need to accelerate the process of whittling them down to a tighter unit for the tournament.

Cole Palmer's chances of making England's Euro 2024 squad seemed beyond remote this time last year. At that point, he had only made a handful of appearances for Manchester City and seemed destined for another season of limited chances under Pep Guardiola.

But Palmer boldly took the decision to join Chelsea in the summer and has been rewarded for his bravery this campaign, quickly emerging as the Blues' most important player and forcing his way into England contention in the process. He made his senior Three Lions debut in the last international break, but his form has been even more impressive since then, meaning he is surely destined for more minutes this time around.

The question Southgate needs to answer is how Palmer can be utilised most effectively. The youngster has been used out wide in each of his England cameos so far, but he can also play in an advanced midfield role, or perhaps even as a false nine.

There's also the question of how many minutes he should be getting. There are few Premier League players in better form right now, but Bukayo Saka has been so reliable for the Three Lions over the past two years. Dropping the Arsenal star for a player who's yet to start a game for England would be a huge call by Southgate.

There are plenty of uncertainties heading into the Euros, but one thing is for sure and that's that some seriously big names are going to be missing from Southgate's squad this summer. This harsh truth was less pronounced at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, with squads permitted to be as large as 26, but we're back down to 23 in Germany, meaning there will not be room for everyone.

Among those who will be most concerned about their chances are Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish. Both have endured thoroughly underwhelming seasons, with the likes of Palmer, Anthony Gordon and Jarrod Bowen all pushing hard to be included too.

Rashford will at least have a chance to impress against Brazil and Belgium, something Grealish won't be able to do due to injury, but even if he does, the forward still needs to finish the season strongly to make sure of his place on the plane.

Southgate even said as much ahead of the two games. "Marcus has a battle on his hands with Gordon, with Palmer with [Phil] Foden… so we’ve got big competition for places in that area of the field. What happens while players are with their clubs is club matters because they know the full story. They know exactly what’s going on.

"Obviously, we observe everything, we don’t miss anything. I don’t say behaviours off the field are irrelevant because clearly they’re not. But the key thing is we are mainly focusing on the performances on the field. He’s got big competition. So has Jack [Grealish]."