PURPLE PATCH: International football returns this week and we decided to examine Harry Kane’s form in front of goal for the Three Lions.
Nations League – Why Kane really has become captain fantastic
England enjoyed a virtually perfect European Championship qualifying campaign with seven wins from their eight Group A matches and much of that success was down to their talismanic striker and captain Harry Kane.
The Tottenham forward had one of the most fruitful campaigns of his career with the national side and ahead of England’s upcoming matches against Wales, Belgium and Denmark, we’ve taken a closer look at Kane’s recent record in this week’s Purple Patch.
Prior to the start of the resumption of their qualifying campaign, the 27-year-old had been in pretty good form for his country, scoring three goals in his last five appearances.
He didn’t find the net in either of England’s Nations League matches, but a return to European qualifying has seen Kane flourish with a remarkable 10 goals in his next six starts.
He kicked things off with a brilliant hat-trick against Bulgaria as well as an assist to Raheem Sterling, meaning he was directly involved in all four of England’s goals.
The Purple Patch continued with goals against Kosovo and Czech Republic, although the strike against the Czechs came in a losing effort – Gareth Southgate’s team’s only defeat during the eight-match campaign.
He followed those goals up with another against Bulgaria, but his influence didn’t stop there as he set up three of England’s five other goals during an emphatic 6-0 away win.
Kane had to wait a month to represent his country again, but that didn’t matter one iota as he picked up from where he left off with another classy hat-trick in another drubbing – this time at home to Montenegro as Southgate’s side ran out convincing 7-0 victors.
England travelled to Kosovo in their final Group A match and the Spurs man was at it again with yet another goal and assist as the Three Lions rounded things off with a 4-0 victory.
Kane failed to find the net against Iceland and Denmark in his most recent appearances in the national shirt, but he grabbed another hat-trick against Maccabi Haifa in Europa League qualifying and a brace against Manchester United recently, and he’ll be hungry to keep such form up against Wales, Belgium and Demark in the coming days.
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