Alexander-Arnold was given the No. 8 shirt for the match, and Telegraph Sport understands he will start next to Rice.

England manager Gareth Southgate also has Conor Gallagher, Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton competing for the spot next to Rice, but a source said: “A lot can change, obviously, but Trent was given the No 8 shirt for a reason.”

Injuries prevented Alexander-Arnold from playing for England in the March friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, even though Southgate had preferred to see him in midfield. In 2022, in the Qatar World Cup, he substituted against Wales for slightly more than thirty minutes.

But the Liverpool player played and scored in the warm-up triumph over Bosnia, starting in the middle of the pitch. He also entered the Icelandic defeat as a substitute.

England will spend almost a week training in Germany before playing Serbia on Sunday night. The 26-man squad will present their case for starting during that period.

Getty Images / Eddie Keogh England’s Gareth Southgate and team head out of Birmingham Airport for the Euros.
Among the players Southgate will have to think about for fitness issues are John Stones, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, and Luke Shaw.

Shaw plans to start full training this week even though the Serbia game is thought to be coming too soon. He is rumoured to be almost ready to play.

With Gallagher, Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze, and Wharton demonstrating their readiness to step in during England’s warm-up games against Bosnia and Iceland, Southgate is expected to lead his team through the group stages and is prepared to adjust his plans if necessary.

Southgate is expected to choose Stones, Marc Guehi, Kyle Walker, and Kieran Trippier as his defensive lineup if Shaw is unable to play the first game and Stones heals from his ankle injury against Iceland. Shaw will represent England at left back once he has shown his fitness.

Following Harry Kane, Bellingham, and Foden in the front three will be Saka, with Alexander-Arnold in a good position to play next to Rice. But Bellingham missed the two England warm-up games after Real Madrid won the Champions League and had to be careful since he dislocated his shoulder in November.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham board the England jet bound for Germany.Eddie Keogh Foden and Saka started the week not quite at full strength either. Saka’s groyne injury, which he suffered during the last week of the Premier League season while honing his shooting for Arsenal, is not believed to have healed fully.

Saka started none of England’s warm-up games; he played the final 25 minutes of the loss to Iceland at Wembley.

Southgate would much like to have a fully-fit Saka at his disposal. After Kane, who scored three goals for England in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Arsenal player is the second-highest scorer in the 26-man squad that has gone to the Euros.

Saka has scored 11 goals overall for England; Foden has scored four, Bellingham, Rice, and Alexander-Arnold each had three goals going into the tournament.