Bukayo Saka is expected to start against Senegal in England’s last-16 clash on Sunday night, despite reports that Phil Foden will keep his place.

Rob Dorsett of Sky Sports exclusively reports that Bukayo Saka is expected to start for England on Sunday night against Senegal, after being rested in the final World Cup group game against Wales.

The news follows a report from talkSPORT on Saturday that Gareth Southgate was set to allow Phil Foden to keep his place in the side. TalkSPORT wrote that Southgate would put his faith in Foden for the Senegal clash.

On the surface of it, these two stories would appear to conflict with each other. Foden started on the right wing against Wales, the same position Saka had started in during the previous two games.

Yet it’s not impossible both reports could be correct. Though Foden started on the right, he looked most effective after swapping with Marcus Rashford and playing on the left in the second half.

If Foden plays on the left (as he does for Manchester City) and Saka plays on the right, then they may well both end up in the starting lineup against Senegal.

It would be a surprising team selection, as Southgate has never started the two players in the same team in those positions before.

In their previous starts together, Saka has usually played left-wing-back and Foden right-wing (three occasions), with the exception of one game against Andorra when Saka started on the right and Foden started as an advanced eight in a heavily-rotated team.

But perhaps Southgate is willing to try something new to ensure two of his top-performing players are both in the team at the business end of the tournament. Alternatively, maybe one of the reports is wrong.

It seems we’ll be kept guessing until the teamsheets are announced.