FootballFanCast.com’s World Cup coverage is brought to you by 5p0rtz.com – try 5p0rtz.com’s World Cup Pool Predictor for free and you could win £1million! Click here to play.

If there’s one department England fans can feel optimistic about heading into the 2018 World Cup, it’s unquestionably the strike force.

Harry Kane is arguably the best centre-forward in the world at this moment in time, Jamie Vardy offers proven potency and threat in behind as a back-up option, Danny Welbeck boasts a strong scoring record for England and Marcus Rashford is one of the Premier League’s most exciting young talents.

[ffc_insert title=”Try 5p0rtz’s World Cup pool predictor for FREE and you could win £1MILLION!” name=”Win £1MILLION with 5p0rtz” image_ link=”https://po.st/5p0rtz” link_text=”Click here to play” ]

While Vardy’s firepower may be enough to see him start a few games in Russia though, the bigger question is who should be Gareth Southgate’s go-to guy from the bench, with Welbeck and Rashford the two key candidates for offensive roles.

Both can play out wide, as a support striker or the main centre-forward, giving Southgate not only extra scoring threat but also greater variety around the final third and the ability to change the shape of the team.

Both too, have just completed relatively similar seasons, ones where they weren’t the star men in Arsenal and Manchester United’s respective attacks but turned up in key moments.

Rashford, for example, scored twice in the Northwest derby, netted thrice in the Champions League and was United’s main offensive threat in the early stages of the FA Cup. Welbeck, likewise, filled Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette’s void in the Europa League at a crucial time, scoring against CSKA Moscow and AC Milan to aid the Gunners’ run to the semi-finals.

In terms of impacting from the bench though, the 20-year-old has been involved in more goals as a substitute this season, four compared to Welbeck’s none across all competitions.

While that statistic is no doubt influenced by how each forward was used from the bench by their respective managers and how frequently, it also highlights the sudden speed and energy Rashford injects into games when he’s subbed on. His return for minutes per goal involvement last season was better than Welbeck’s as well, by the rather telling distance of over an hour.

But if there’s one counter-argument in Welbeck’s favour, it’s his scoring record at international level. Following an era in which some of England’s greatest ever talents failed to turn up at major tournaments, the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney, 15 goals – which is coincidentally his same all-time tally for Arsenal in the Premier League – from 37 England outings is a difficult return to ignore. In contrast, Rashford’s only only ever found the net twice for England.

So, England fans, who should be Southgate’s key impact sub? Let us know by voting below…

[ad_pod ]