Can Daniel Sturridge and Harry Kane Be the Perfect Attack for England's Future?

Tuesday night sees two Champions League sides face off in the Premier League, with Tottenham Hotspur travelling to Liverpool.

It also sees a potential battle between two prospective England strikers for the national team: the returned-from-injury Daniel Sturridge in red and the big emergence of the season so far, Harry Kane, in white.

While they'll be battling against each other at Anfield for three points, they have been looked at as a potential partnership for their country, heading into the latter stages of the European Championships qualifiers and for the tournament itself in summer of 2016. Looking at their traits and manner of playing, it's potentially a duo that could fire England toward hope once more.

Kane's Emergence

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After a spell on loan at Norwich City in 2012-13, where Kane did nothing more special than break a bone in his foot and have the loan terminated early by his parent club, few would have expected dramatic improvements in the then-19-year-old. Even last season, used fleetingly in cups and then more in the league toward the end of the campaign, he was energetic and ambitious, but not exactly stellar in his delivery of performance—but that run of games seems to have sparked something within him.

The Tottenham forward started this campaign as one of the club's first-choice forwards, scoring goals in Europe while Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado floundered domestically. Eventually, his consistency when called upon won him a starting role in the league—and he has, quickly and completely, gone on to shoulder the entire scoring and attacking burden of the team.

From on-the-fringes sub option to team leader in a matter of months, Kane is now the go-to figure for whether or not Spurs play well and can win any given game.

On the international stage, though his 20-plus goals this season make him certainly worthwhile for an international call-up, he should also be keen to head to the under-21 European Championships this summer, getting tournament experience and the chance to take on some of the best defenders of his age on the continent.

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"If you don't give him a game quickly, somebody else will give him a passport." - Wenger on Harry Kane and England. pic.twitter.com/yurAvbST3p

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 7, 2015"

England needs to stop seeing this path as a "demotion" back to the under-21s and instead a valuable chance to gain experience for a player who still has less than 100 games to his name. Impress at the U21 Euros and then do the business for his team again into next season, and we can start to talk about him leading England's line at Euro 2016.

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There's a long way to go for Kane before then.

Sturridge Threat

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Daniel Sturridge is a much more straightforward case: He's technically one of the best around, he has tremendous pace and scores goals. Lots of goals. The problem is, he also picks up lots of injuries. This season has been more than half-lost because of thigh and calf problems, and the striker is only now returning to full fitness.

However, keep him fresh, and he guarantees the ball in the back of the net.

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Brendan Rodgers says that Harry Kane’s spectacular rise will spur Daniel Sturridge on to become England’s #1 striker pic.twitter.com/XC8ZKTCFbi

— Purely Football (@PurelyFootball) February 10, 2015"

In terms of being alongside Sturridge, Kane represents an intriguing option—he is happy and confident to drop deep into a 10 role, can start plays from deep, is powerful and can occupy defenders and, as well as scoring himself, is a good forward for others to play off. Sturridge could well thrive on that with his pace, running behind the defence and ability to get away early shots.

There is certainly potential in the attack, if it can be held together with regularity and serviced by those from deeper.

Building Around the Attack

Playing two up front does two things: ensures England will want to be on the front foot as much as possible, to not be missing bodies by being defensive for long stretches, but also minimises the team arrangements that come behind those two.

A 4-2-3-1, or most systems with five-man midfields, are out the window, other than 3-5-2 variations—but England haven't played a back three with any kind of regularity under Roy Hodgson. Obviously, a diamond would be the natural choice since it has been utilised already, with a compact, mobile 4-4-2 another option—just not the straight-lines variation that Hodgson has used at club level too often.

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In the diamond, Raheem Sterling could continue at the tip, with perhaps Jordan Henderson and Wayne Rooney—a fully fledged central midfielder at club level these days—the middle two. Michael Carrick probably leads the charge for the deepest role in the absence of any growth or consistency from Jack Wilshere.

Danny Welbeck is the obvious fall guy in this scenario, with his pace and power being replaced, but also his goals. He has contributed in that regard at international level and would still be able to offer that from the bench.

Kane and Sturridge, on the face of it, have an awful lot to offer as a pairing and as individuals. But both of them also have to prove that they can be available and hitting the target on a more regular basis—the Spurs man showing more longevity than just the past few months of a single season, and the Liverpool striker through improved fitness—if they want to lead the national team's line heading into the next major tournament.

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