Arsenal playmaker Ebere Eze is “the most talented” attacking midfielder in the England squad, according to Tim Sherwood.

Eze bagged a hat-trick in Sunday’s derby win over Tottenham Hotspur, who tried to sign him from Crystal Palace in the summer before Arsenalhijacked the deal.

Arsenal top Premier League tables

• Top of form table(5 wins, 1 draw)
• Top of table v top half(3 wins, 2 draws)
• 8 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses in table when scoring first
• Only 2 points lost from winning positions

After Arsenal’s 4-1 win at the Emirates, Eze said he prayed for a hat-trick, and Mikel Arteta revealed that the 27-year-old?had cut short a day off in the lead-up to the game.

“Things happen for a reason,” the Arsenal manager said.

“After the international duty, he had two days off and, after one day, he wanted to train and he wanted to improve and he wanted to do extra practice. He was asking me questions about this and that.

“When a player has such a talent and his desire is at that level, then these things happen.”

Ahead of the match, Spurs boss?Thomas Frank tried to make light of facing a player who rejected them for Arsenal, jokingly asking “Who’s Eze?” in his pre-match press conference.

An Eze goal felt inevitable after that, but a hat-trick exceeded all expectations.

The former Crystal Palace star has boosted his Englandcredentials with a big performance in a huge game, giving Thomas Tuchel food for thought.

Eze tipped for England starting spot amid Bellingham controversy

There is stiff competition for the No.10 spot in Tuchel’s team at next summer’s World Cup, and former Spurs manager Sherwood thinks Eze is top of the pecking order in that position.

Sherwood warned against getting carried away right before getting pretty carried away himself, claiming that Eze is England’s best No.10 ahead of Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden.

“We can get a bit carried away because he scored a hat-trick in the North London derby, it’s massive for Eze, it’s massive for Arsenal,” Sherwood said on Sky Sports News.

“But if you asked me before, who’s the most talented number 10, an actual number 10, who’s going to play in that central area? I would say Eze.

“He’s quick, he plays off both feet. He’s got everything. He’s got the vision. He’s the most talented number 10 we have in England.

“If we’re going to play with a number 10, I’m not sure if Thomas Tuchel wants to do that in the World Cup. If we play a number 10, it has to be Eze.

“He’s got everything. He can score goals, he can create goals, he’s got the legs, he can run, and he’s strong. He’s got the power around himself.

“Credit to the boy; he didn’t look like he was bothered by the atmosphere.

“He knows the noise surrounding that game. For him, he just took it on his shoulders. And big players do that.”

Sherwood adds more fuel to the Bellingham fire

Despite Bellingham being a world-class attacking midfielder for Real Madrid, his place in the England starting XI is not guaranteed.

Bellingham hogged the headlines throughout the international break as the media desperately sought a story as the Three Lions comfortably navigated their final two World Cup qualifiers with their spot at next summer’s tournament already secured.

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One journalist was blasted by Ian Wright in a passionate rant, while Bellingham featured heavily in Mediawatchand the Mailbox.

Even Tuchel got sucked in when he sensationalised a normal reaction to being substituted. The German also omitted the Madrid star from his October squad and started Morgan Rogers over him in this month’s first qualifier against Serbia.

There’s just an unnecessary amount of noise surrounding Bellingham and his standing in the England squad. But if Tuchel doesn’t fancy him, that’s fine because Eze is England’s best No.10…

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