Later on today England manager Fabio Capello will name his preliminary squad for the World Cup in South Africa. He’ll choose thirty players to look at during a training camp in Austria and two warm up matches before he names his final 23-man squad on 1st June.

We’re not shy in attempting to predict the future, so here’s who we think will make that final squad in June and be on the plane to South Africa. Of course, we’re bound to be wrong, but still…every other pundit and commentator is having their say, so why shouldn’t we!

Goalkeepers

Possibly the easiest selection to make for Fabio, though form is a worry. Still, the amount of choice isn’t exactly in abundance, so…our three keepers:

David James: He may or may not be number one choice, but he’ll definitely go. He’s had a torrid time alongside his Portsmouth teammates this season but his experience and temperament will be useful whether he plays or not and given the relative youth of our other choices, we’d definitely have him in the squad.

Joe Hart: Far and away the most in form English keeper all season and Birmingham have benefited greatly from his loan from Manchester City. He’s young and inexperienced on this sort of stage, however, so we’re not sure if Capello will start him but he’s done everything required to be on the plane. Definitely going.

For us, the third keeper is a toss up between Paul Robinson of Blackburn and Robert Green of West Ham. You can’t say either has had a great season. Blackburn haven’t done particularly well and West Ham only just stayed up. However, Robinson has a huge question mark over his head in an England shirt.

Robert Green: As back up he’s adequate and that’s all you can really expect when England is devoid of truly outstanding goalkeepers. You’ll not see him play any part barring an injury nightmare at the back, but we think he’ll go.

Defenders

How many defenders should a squad of 23 include? That’s up to Capello but at least eight, we would think.

John Terry: Stripped of the captaincy, experienced a disturbing dip in form yet ended the season on a high and with a Premier League winners medal. He’s a definite and a starter. No question at all.

Rio Ferdinand: Rio has struggled all season with a back injury that looks like it will never go away. He’s managed just 12 League appearances and Capello will not pick on sentiment. However, he is still the best partner for Terry if he’s fit and the fact he played seemingly without problem in Manchester United’s last game of the season we think he’ll go. Capello will be checking him out thoroughly before June though.

Matthew Upson: Has been in the last few squads and played in the win against Egypt and the defeat against Brazil. He’s had a pretty decent season at West Ham as well and is clearly well liked by the England hierarchy. He’ll be on the plane and may start if Ferdinand remains a serious doubt.

Then you’re left with a choice between Tottenham’s Ledley King and Michael Dawson or Man City’s Joleon Lescott. Lescott has failed to find the form he had at Everton so we’ll rule him out. King’s fitness problems are well documented, while Dawson’s form this season has been outstanding, helping Spurs to a Champions League place. So you’d think it would be Dawson all the way, but those games in which King has played, he’s shown just how good he is. It’s tight, but we’ll go for…

Michael Dawson: He’s shown his quality this year and we just think the doubts over King’s fitness will be enough for Dawson to get the nod from Capello. It’ll be harsh on King but this is a World Cup and taking risks on injury has proven to be the undoing of the team in the last couple of tournaments.

Moving to the flanks then, the full back positions pose a problem, especially at right back. There simply is no tried and tested right back. Left back is a somewhat simpler position, though back-up is tricky.

Ashley Cole: Back to fitness and looking like he’s never been away, Ashley Cole is a dead cert to start at left back. Coming off the back of a title winning season with Chelsea (not to mention a potential Double), his confidence will be high – and that’s never been a problem for Ash anyway!

Leighton Baines: Baines should get the nod ahead of nearest challenger Stephen Warnock to back up Cole. That’s who we’d pick anyway. He’s been great for Spurs, while Villa and Warnock faded towards the end of the season. Baines also appears to be a favourite of Capello with Wayne Bridge declaring himself unavailable. We like him as well.

Glen Johnson: The less said about Liverpool’s season the better, but early on Johnson was a marauding threat down the right, scoring and providing goals. Yes, defensively he can be suspect and Capello will worry about that but who else can he turn to? If he’s fit, he’ll go and the worry for the manager is who will back him up.

Wes Brown played the last England game there. Gary Neville is having an Indian Summer after injury. Any other contenders? Not really. But Brown hasn’t appeared since getting injured against Wolves way back in March. That will scupper his chances. Which leaves…

Gary Neville: His experience, awareness and not least form will have given Capello something to think about. At 35 should Neville really go to a World Cup? Opinion will be divided but we think if he’s there to back up a less defensively solid Johnson then it gives Capello options. The lack of other really true challengers leaves us, at least, with no question. Take him.

Midfielders

Ah, the area that causes most discussion. Not only who to take, but who to play, because, remember, Gerrard and Lampard can’t play together – or so the public thought until Capello came along and made them.

The injury to Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick’s comparatively poor season make this even more of a headache for Capello. We’ll do our best to pick the best though.

Steven Gerrard: A dead cert. Not his best season with only nine league goals all season but he’s playing in a weak Liverpool side and has obviously missed the presence of Torres as well. That said, he is still far and away the best English midfielder, challenged only by Frank Lampard for that particular title. Speaking of which…

Frank Lampard: Won the League, scored a career best 27 goals in all competitions (that’s five seasons in a row he’s hit 20 or more!) and remains the beating heart of Chelsea football club. He isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, including former England managers, but you can’t ignore him and you certainly can’t leave him behind. How you partner him with Gerrard is Capello’s problem, we’re taking him.

Now what? Can we afford to wait for Barry? Can we afford to take an out of form Carrick? Who the hell else is there? Well, there’s Ledley King again, but no. Jermaine Jenas? Tom Huddlestone? The whole of the Spurs midfield?! We’re stumped here, frankly. We don’t see Capello risking including Gareth Barry and that is a huge loss. But…

Michael Carrick: He’ll have to go despite his poor form. He has the experience and the ability and Capello will just have to hope he finds his form in the warm up games because he can’t ask Garrard or Lampard to play the defensive midfielder role, it suits neither of them.

James Milner: He’s had a brilliant season at Aston Villa and his versatility across the midfield means we think he’ll go – though we may be slightly reluctant about his inclusion he has forced his way into contention and Barry’s injury means he gets his chance. We have different ideas for the wing, but Milner can play in the middle if required. We just hope it’s not.

The right of midfield is a simple choice from four now that Beckham has been ruled out with his Achilles injury – and we’d have taken Beckham in a heartbeat, just so you know.  Those four are Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adam Johnson.

They’ve all shown they’ve got ability. And they’ve all, Johnson aside, been given a chance by Capello. So what do we think?

Aaron Lennon: Far and away the best right sided midfielder this season despite the fact he suffered a lengthy injury lay off. In the absence of Beckham, he’s our first choice all the way and we think Capello will agree.

Theo Walcott: Frustratingly disappointing at club level, he has nevertheless stepped up to the plate at international level. His pace can terrify defenders and when he takes the ball with him, as he sometimes does, he’s near unstoppable. We don’t trust Wright-Phillips at all and Johnson is maybe just a season to early in his development, so we’ll go with Walcott.

On the left side you’ll usually find Gerrard if Lampard is playing also. It’s the only place he fits and does a (decent but not great) job. That’s where he’ll start against the USA, you can bet on it. Some games may require he plays in the middle though, so who do you stick on the left? These guys:

Ashley Young: He’s had a great season for Villa and offers pace where Gerrard doesn’t. He can also play through the middle which adds a bit of versatility, though it’s unlikely to be used. As ever, England struggle with true quality on the left but Young offers it to some extent. As back up to Gerrard, he’s ideal and we’ll have him.

Joe Cole: Yep, bit of a surprise, eh. But the lad is pure class and before a serious injury it was his position. A lack of appearances for Chelsea won’t help him in Capello’s eyes, and maybe we’re guilty of a bit of sentiment but we think he is a better option than the only other choice – Stewart Downing. Cole, of course, can also deputise behind the front two. It’s a risk, but you need to take them now and then.

Strikers

Or “Who partners Rooney?”. There’s a lot of choice here but you can only take four so we’ll go with these:

Wayne Rooney: Nuff said.

Emile Heskey: Can’t get close to the Villa team in recent months but always gives his all for England and Rooney has stated he loves playing with him. Capello tends to agree. There’s a vague doubt at the back of our minds about him, mainly thanks to his obvious shortcomings in front of goal and the way he performed against Brazil in the last World Cup. But we think you need a target man and he’s it.

Peter Crouch: His record in an England shirt is phenomenal and while he has struggled to hold down a place at Spurs where competition up front his fierce we think he’s got to go. He can also play the target man, though less effectively than Heskey as he lacks strength. Coming off the bench, however, he gives the opposition something entirely different to worry about. For that reason, he goes.

Jermaine Defoe: Fast, great striker of the ball, eye for goal. Just what you want. Awful partner for Rooney though. So he’ll play back up to the United man as Crouch will for Heskey. Again, coming off the bench he can make an impact in a much better way than some of his closest rivals for the role of fourth striker.

So that’s our 23-man squad for the World Cup this summer. It is, of course, subject to change and those players bubbling under who may get their chance that we have yet to mention are Darren Bent (scoring well), Bobby Zamora (having his best season), Scott Parker (dragged West Ham to safety) and Ryan Shawcross (Stoke’s best player).

Oh yes, and Jamie Carragher. Indeed, Carragher has made himself available again and Capello does look set to take a look at him in the preliminary squad. If Ferdinand proves not to be fit enough, we can see him going to the World Cup. We, however, wouldn’t pick him – we’d take a fifth striker instead. But that’s us!

We’re sure you’ve got your own opinions on who should go. Let us know what you think in the comments.