Why Bukayo Saka is England's unlucky charm

Trent Alexander-Arnold is England’s lucky charm with an 82% win rate but Southgate shouldn’t play Bukayo Saka if he wants to avoid defeat, statistics show.

Gareth Southgate must play Trent Alexander-Arnold to have a chance of bringing the World Cup home, according to thorough research into England stars’ win rates.

Midnite has looked into the win percentage of each English player by dividing the total wins by their total appearances for the Three Lions, and the results are fascinating.

Alexander-Arnold has an 82% win rate from 17 caps for his country, despite not being deemed worthy for many starts under Southgate.

Whereas the North London trio, Aaron Ramsdale, Eric Dier and Bukayo Saka have the worst win rate out of the whole England squad, with 33%, 53% and 55% respectively.

Ben White, Callum Wilson and James Maddison have the best win rates technically with 100%, but all have played a minimal amount of games which does not replicate accurate statistics.

Nick Pope is the safest pair of hands in the squad, winning a total of 80% of games in the 10 caps he’s had for England, compared to Jordan Pickford who has won 18% less of his games.

Phil Foden has the fourth-highest win rate, with England fans wanting him to replicate his club form for his country, Southgate should trust the youngster to help achieve later rounds into the World Cup.

Despite Declan Rice being one of the first names on the team sheet for most, he only wins 58% of the games when he’s played, compared to Jude Bellingham who has won 70%.

England's Lucky Charms

Player, Wins, Losses, draws and win %

• Ben White | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100
• Callum Wilson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100
• James Maddison | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100
• Trent Alexander-Arnold | 14 | 2 | 1 | 82
• Nick Pope | 8 | 1 | 1 | 80
• Conor Gallagher | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75
• Phil Foden | 13 | 2 | 3 | 72
• Conor Coady | 7 | 2 | 1 | 70
• Jude Bellingham | 12 | 3 | 2 | 70
• Kieran Trippier | 25 | 7 | 5 | 67
• Harry Kane | 48 | 15 | 12 | 64
• Raheem Sterling | 51 13 | 15 | 64
• Jordan Henderson | 44 | 13 | 12 | 63
• Jordan Pickford | 28 | 10 | 7 | 62
• Harry Maguire | 30 | 11 | 7 | 62
• John Stones | 36 | 11 | 12 | 61
• Kyle Walker | 43 | 14 | 13 | 61
• Kalvin Phillips | 14 | 4 | 5 | 60
• Marcus Rashford | 28 | 10 | 8 | 60
• Mason Mount | 19 | 6 | 7 | 59
• Jack Grealish | 14 | 4 | 6 | 58
• Declan Rice | 20 | 7 | 7 | 58
• Luke Shaw | 13 | 4 | 6 | 56
• Bukayo Saka | 11 | 5 | 4 | 55
• Eric Dier | 25 | 11 | 11 | 53
• Aaron Ramsdale | 1 | 1 | 1 | 33