Patrick Bamford produced a near-perfect performance on Sunday afternoon as Leeds United earned a surprise 3-1 away win over high-flying Leicester City at the King Power – taking his tally to 11 goals in 20 Premier League matches. With Gareth Southgate watching, talk about a potential England call-up has since followed for the ex-Chelsea striker.
Bamford, 27, had come into the game in struggling form. He had failed to score since the 1-0 win over Burnley – going four without finding the back of the net. But that lack of goals did not look to deter Bamford on Sunday, as he put Leicester to the sword not only with a brilliant goal of his own – but with his unselfishness and creativity in the final third.
Indeed, Bamford scored his 11th of the season with a beautiful curling effort that kissed the bar before nestling in the top corner of Kasper Schmeichel’s goal. But the two-time England Under-21 ace also created Leeds other two goals – flicking a through ball into Stuart Dallas and squaring for Jack Harrison to net a third.
He now has five assists for the season, too. It means Bamford has 16 goal involvements in 20 Premier League matches and that kind of form will surely prove hard to ignore – especially as the striker is England’s second-highest goalscorer behind Harry Kane in the league. Micah Richards told Match of the Day that he is pushing – and deserves to be dreaming of an England call-up.
“He was excellent. He’s been more efficient, he’s got so much variation to his game – a clever striker. The technique to get it past Schmeichel is extraordinary. He’s a team player,” Richards said about Bamford, before discussing his England prospects: “He’s pushing for the England team. I don’t want to say he should be in the next squad, but he’s pushing. Why can he not dream?”
The competition
This is where Bamford will find it hard to break in. Southampton’s Danny Ings might have an advantage over Bamford, as he has now been in stunning form for a season and a half – scoring 29 goals in 53 Premier League matches over the course of the last two seasons. He is already an England international, too.
Dom Calvert-Lewin has been immense for Everton under Carlo Ancelotti and has made his England bow this season – but Bamford sits ahead of both in this season’s goalscoring ranks, as well as laying on more assists. Marcus Rashford is likely to play from the left, while Tammy Abraham remains on the fringes at Chelsea. Bamford has a chance, and he might get his debut in the next internationals in March if keeps his form up.
But in regards to Euro 2021, Ings and Calvert-Lewin look more likely to feature.
