England just left its best defender at home and Liverpool snub could cost country Euro 2024 win

England boss Gareth Southgate won't confirm the final squad for Euro 2024 until Saturday, but it's now being widely reported that two Liverpool stars will be left at home. One of those decisions in particular could prove costly.

It's not an especially unexpected blow for Jarell Quansah or Curtis Jones, neither of whom had received an England cap prior to their inclusions in the provisional 33-man squad. But that alone does not back up Southgate's call.

New Liverpool boss Arne Slot may well be secretly pleased, with two more senior players set to swell the ranks at the start of pre-season. But from an England perspective, if Quansah is coming home, then football might not be.

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That's a bold statement to make about a 21-year-old who only made his Liverpool debut in the season just gone. While there was internal excitement about Quansah, he arrived more or less out of nowhere for the average supporter, impressing during pre-season and then never looking back.

But given the campaign he has had, it would no longer be accurate to describe Quansah as inexperienced. He lacks any game time with England — for which Southgate only has himself to blame — but he has amassed an impressive amount of top-level minutes over the course of the season.

Across all competitions, Quansah registered 2,509 minutes for Liverpool in 2023/24. That's more than Harry Maguire, Marc Guehi and John Stones, all of whom look likely to make the final England squad ahead of him.

Of course, it's not all about minutes. This is enough to show that Quansah should not have been excluded on grounds of inexperience, but the big question is whether he has shown sufficient quality to feature in the England set-up.

On the evidence of this season, he should be a starter. Not only is he excellent defensively, his attributes lend themselves perfectly to tournament football.

Given the fine margins involved, we can expect set pieces to play an important role at Euro 2024. Quansah is in the 97th percentile of positional peers for goals scored per 90 in Europe's top leagues over the last year (FBRef), primarily thanks to his major threat from corners and free kicks.

A physically imposing presence despite his young age, Quansah is very dangerous in the air. But even if the ball hits the ground, he has shown at Liverpool that he possesses a real composure, able to cause havoc around him but keep a cool head and find a finish.

That kind of skill-set is part of why Southgate has kept faith in Maguire for so long. But Quansah offers much the same package in this respect, as well as plenty of additional perks.

In possession, he suits the dominant style England is likely to play, with Southgate's side set to go into almost every Euro 2024 encounter as the favorite. Quansah has averaged more than 90 passes per game at Liverpool, boasting an 89.7 per cent success rate while still managing to progress the ball at a significantly above-average rate.

Meanwhile, in a defensive sense, Quansah has been almost flawless. His aerial dominance comes in handy at that end of the pitch too, but it's the more general category of defensive duels where he really stands out. No under-25 defender in Europe's top five leagues can boast a better duel win percentage.

Maybe it's hyperbole to say that England has left its best defender at home, but the numbers don't lie. And even looking beyond the statistics, it's hard not to feel as though an important defender in a Liverpool side that finished third, and with the third-best defensive record in the league, deserved some more genuine consideration from Southgate.

Quansah wasn't used at all in the first England friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina, so he is still awaiting his debut. It remains to be seen what the next Euro 2024 warm-up fixture holds for those who are set to be packing their bags, but it almost feels like a pointless call-up.

If nothing else, he now has some of that all-important 'experience' within the England camp, and perhaps that will stand him in good stead for the next set of international fixtures. But at Euro 2024, if a defender is beaten in a crucial duel or misses a glorious chance from a set piece, just remember who will be sitting at home.