Newcastle United duo Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier have both been named in Garth Crooks Premier League Team of the Week.
The pair helped us to our seventh clean sheet of the season on Saturday, with Chelsea finding no way past that black and white wall as Joe Willock’s goal helped us to a 1-0 win at St James’ Park.
In his latest piece for the BBC, Crooks believes Pope’s impressive form should see him start England’s World Cup opener against Iran ahead of Jordan Pickford.
The latter made a couple of errors in Everton’s 3-0 defeat t Bournemouth over the weekend, while Pope pulled off a stunning second half save to deny Conor Gallagher.
We have the best defence in the Premier League this season and Crooks feels Southgate must take note, with him also dishing out huge praise to the “outstanding” full-back; complimenting his influence on and off the field.
Here’s what he had to say about both, followed by his Team of the Week in full, which features the likes of Ivan Toney, Darwin Nunez and Danny Ings:
Nick Pope (Newcastle)
The save by Nick Pope from Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher was impressive but nothing less than what I expected from an international goalkeeper.
The question is, when is Pope going to replace Jordan Pickford for England? Everton are languishing in 17th place while Pope, 30, has helped Newcastle into the top four, keeping clean sheets, and his confidence is sky high.
Gareth Southgate must not lose the self-assurance Pope has gained from playing so well for the Magpies these past few months. I very much doubt Southgate will remove Pickford from the number one spot but based on form he should for their first game in Qatar against Iran.
Kieran Trippier (Newcastle)
The inclusion of Kieran Trippier in England’s World Cup squad is not just indicative of how well he’s playing but also the impact his captaincy is having on Newcastle United.
The full-back has been outstanding for much of the season and instrumental in the Geordies sitting proudly among the Premier League elite.
