Who’s shaping up to be Argentina’s first-choice No 5 at the World Cup | OneFootball

The Argentina national team already has its mind set on June 16, the day it will make its World Cup debut when it faces Algeria in the opening match of Group J. Although for that game coach Lionel Scaloni will wait on the recovery of the injured players, who are expected to be available, the truth is that the main doubt concerns the holding midfielder.

Even though in the Albiceleste’s most recent matches Leandro Paredes has played in that position, for the World Cup everything indicates that Alexis Mac Allister will be the starter, but it is clear that the coach tends to change his preferred starting eleven during tournaments, as happened in Qatar 2022, so no one will be able to relax.

For the Boca midfielder to break into the starting lineup, Rodrigo De Paul would have to come out, and he has been getting himself into good physical shape and, since he has been one of the pillars of this national team, he will probably have the coaching staff’s vote of confidence.

The other midfielder who would complete the team is Enzo Fernández, an untouchable at this point, just like the Liverpool player. Both can play either as central midfielders or holding midfielders, but the middle suits Mac Allister better, which is why he would displace Paredes.

It should also be taken into account that Boca’s captain arrives at this World Cup with physical issues because he suffered a hamstring strain in his right leg that forced him to play with difficulty against Universidad Católica in the final matchday of the Copa Libertadores group stage.

Beyond that, Paredes, who has also been a key player throughout Scaloni’s tenure, knows that he will have his chances to earn the spot and that in some matches the coach may even choose to include him to strengthen the midfield, but, a priori, Mac Allister is the one who would win out.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.