Bukayo Saka gets Lionel Messi and Mo Salah call as England held by Ukraine

Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka has been compared to Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah after starring for England against Ukraine. Joe Cole made the call on the 22-year-old following the 1-1 draw in Poland on Saturday.

Saka started for England as they failed to make it five wins from five in Group C of qualifying for Euro 2024. He came the closest to scoring for the Three Lions in the second half when the scores were level.

He saw a powerful effort come back off the crossbar, with replays showing Ukraine goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan got an important fingertip on the strike. Former England and Chelsea star Cole was on punditry duty and reviewed the chance after the match.

And Saka’s actions which created the opportunity drew comparisons with Argentina superstar Messi and Liverpool’s Salah. Cole said on Channel 4: “You can’t defend that because he’s got this ability like Lionel Messi where he takes it backwards.

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“So the defender, you can stop him but he takes it back and he’s still got the ability to whip it with so much power. There’s only a few [players] – Mo Salah’s got it, Lionel Messi’s got it and Bukayo Saka’s got it. When he gets in that position, he’s clinical.”

Former England midfielder Jill Scott was alongside Cole and insisted Saka has now guaranteed himself a starting spot for the foreseeable future. However, she says there are still question marks over who should play on the opposite flank after James Maddison was given the nod on Saturday.

Scott said: “Yeah we’ve said Saka in that position, he has nailed it down. You see by his performance today, he can cut in, he can stay wide, he can put crosses in.

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“On that left side there’s still a question mark. Obviously we saw Maddison in there today but if we are going to build on getting them connections better, that quick play, I think we need to nail on who’s going to play on that left-hand side.”

England fell behind in the 26th minute when Saka’s Arsenal team-mate Oleksandr Zinchenko opened the scoring. Kyle Walker equalised for the visitors four minutes before half-time with his first international goal.

Southgate’s side are back in action on Tuesday in a friendly against Scotland at Hampden Park. They do not play another qualifier until the home clash against Italy on October 17.

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