John Stones and Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, Luke Shaw in defence and why Gareth Southgate should copy the Premier League's top managers when England face Malta

A year has passed since Ramsdale's last appearance for England, the humiliating 4-0 thrashing at home to Hungary. The goalkeeper gave a very poor performance in that game at Molineux but he has just had an exceptional campaign with Arsenal and deserves another chance.

Although Southgate has been fiercely loyal to Jordan Pickford, Ramsdale has superior technical abilities and this experimental line-up plays to his strengths, with plenty of players willing to receive short passes in the backline or break quickly from his targeted long balls.

Walker fought his way back into the City team after a period on the fringes of the starting XI and mastered his role in the back three, despite Guardiola expressing doubts about his ability to perform in it as recently as April.

He has also played in a back three for England on numerous occasions, including in the Euro 2020 final against Italy.

While Harry Maguire made just eight starts in the Premier League, Guehi only missed one match all season for Crystal Palace. The youngest captain in the league, the 22-year-old has shown leadership qualities and maturity as well as bags of quality on the ball.

Maguire is more experienced for England but in a game for trying out new things, Guehi is an intriguing option at the heart of the defence.

Shaw has played in a back three for Manchester United and England before and excelled in the unfamiliar role of centre-back this season when his team-mates were injured.

Indeed, Ten Hag preferred Shaw over Maguire at centre-back on a number of occasions. His technical ability and positional awareness make him well-equipped to play as an inside left-back.

The right-back's defensive shortcomings came under scrutiny this season and he spent a lot of games later in the campaign effectively playing as a midfielder, dictating the play with his passes.

He was sensational in the 6-1 thrashing of Leeds, running the show as well as setting up two goals amid a run of five assists in four matches. He has only made 14 starts for England as there is fierce competition at right-back, but shifting into midfield, while also covering wide, could be his route to a regular England spot.

Stones has reinvented himself as a midfielder, going from being almost an outcast to one of City's most influential players. And he was the outstanding player in the Champions League final.

His dribbling ability, passing range and defensive quality give him all the tools to be a fine midfielder for England too. And with Alexander-Arnold playing to his right, he would be able to focus even more on the engine room and not have to drop back as much.

Rice has become an increasingly ambitious midfielder in the last year, getting forward more and more and causing a lot of damage when cutting inside from the left.

With Jude Bellingham injured, this is Rice's chance to show what he can do for England in a freer role and Malta are ideal opponents for him to make an impression against.

Saka is one of the best players in the world right now and is as devastating for his country as he is for Arsenal. He set up one goal and scored another in England's last match against Ukraine, while he was their biggest threat in the World Cup quarter-final loss to France.

The trip to Malta is a chance for him to add to his eight goals for England and perhaps move on to double figures.

The Crystal Palace star scored a quarter of his club's goals last season (10 out of a total of 40) and contributed four assists, returning with a bang after missing most of the previous campaign recovering from the Achilles problem.

Eze is making his long-awaited return to the England set-up after suffering that injury the day after joining the provisional squad for Euro 2020 and this game against Malta is the perfect occasion for him to finally make his debut. And after the season he has had, he more than deserves it.

Rashford has just had the season of his life, scoring 30 goals for Manchester United in all competitions. He missed England's last two matches due to injury and has not often started due to competition from Raheem Sterling and then Jack Grealish.

But with Sterling out of the squad and Grealish only just back from the mother of all parties, Rashford deserves the nod against Malta and could show he is worthy of a starting berth after turning his career around.

Even though this is a game England can expect to win comfortably, their captain still needs to start. As well as being Southgate's best finisher, Kane is the brains of the team and one of their most creative players.

But if the game is going well and England are comfortably ahead, then Callum Wilson might get a chance off the bench to score his first competitive goal for the Three Lions after striking 18 times for Newcastle in the Premier League.