The Manchester City man is in the final stages of his recovery from groin surgery and has been training with the team, but by his own admission, he is unlikely to be risked here.
Leicester City playmaker James Maddison has also missed a couple of days' worth of training, but it would have been a surprise to see him line up from the start here.
Aaron Ramsdale and Nick Pope lead the way at the top of the Premier League clean sheet charts, but Jordan Pickford should start the World Cup as England's number one, most likely with Harry Maguire and John Stones protecting him.
A four-man backline would likely see Kieran Trippier and Luke Shaw occupy the wide areas, and Southgate is facing a dilemma over Declan Rice's midfield partner.
Kalvin Phillips was an integral cog at Euro 2020, but his shoulder injury and subsequent lack of minutes could see Southgate opt to bring in Jude Bellingham instead.
Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Phil Foden are seemingly nailed on to occupy spots in the final third behind Harry Kane, who needs just three more goals to overtake Ellen White and Wayne Rooney and become England's highest goalscorer of all time.
England possible starting lineup: Pickford; Trippier, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Bellingham; Sterling, Mount, Foden; Kane
Manchester City 
Everton 
Chelsea 
Fulham 
Nottingham Forest 
Tottenham 
Celtic 
Motherwell 
Wolverhampton 
Manchester Utd 
ST Mirren 
Rangers 
Sampdoria 
Carrarese 
Liverpool 
Leicester 
Arsenal 
Ipswich 
Cagliari 
Inter 
Lazio 
Atalanta 
FC Porto 
Boavista 
Udinese 
Torino 
Napoli 
Venezia 
ST Johnstone 
Juventus 
Fiorentina 
West Ham 
Pisa 
AC Milan 
Roma 
Sporting CP 
Benfica 
Newcastle 
Brentford 
Nacional