Excitement is building for the World Cup with the competition drawing ever closer.

Now that the Premier League is over, attention has now turned to preparation for football's biggest tournament.

England go into the finals in Russia not among the favourites, although they will be hoping that they can make the latter stages of the competition.

The first task for Gareth Southgate this summer is picking his 23-man squad, which he will do on Wednesday morning.

But who should he take?

BWIN DRAW UP BEST STATISTICAL SQUAD

Each and every football fan will have a different opinion on who Southgate should select.

Bwin have created a scoring system where English players are awarded points for goals, assists, clean sheets and saves in the Premier League this season. Points earned against the top six sides are doubled.

That tally is then scaled per 90 minutes and exclude anyone with fewer than 900 minutes played.

Using this, they have then picked a 23-man squad that Southgate should take.

Pretty simple, right?

Anyhow, let's take a look at the players that should be picked based off their data. It's fair to say that there are a few surprises...

You can take a look at Bwin's full analysis by clicking on this link:

GOALKEEPERS: Jack Butland, Nick Pope, Jordan Pickford

Not too many surprises here. Jack Butland is ranked the best goalkeeper from this season, with Burnley's Nick Pope and Everton's Jordan Pickford also on the plane.

Joe Hart, meanwhile, is ranked seventh among English goalkeepers, behind the likes of Fraser Forster and Karl Darlow. Ouch.

CENTRE BACKS: Phil Jones, John Stones, Chris Smalling, James Tomkins

There is a surprise in defence, however. 

There will be few complaints that Phil Jones, John Stones and Chris Smalling make the 23, but few would have even considered James Tomkins.

He gets the last spot at the position at the expense of Harry Maguire, who many want to see start in Russia. Maguire is ranked only seventh, behind Gary Cahill and Jamaal Lascelles.

FULL-BACKS: Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Ashley Young, Aaron Creswell

Kyle Walker is England's best statistical right-back, while Ashley Young of Manchester United is ranked the best at left-back.

Surprisingly, Aaron Creswell is projected to make the plane instead of Ryan Bertrand.

Joe Gomez also misses out.

CENTRAL-MIDFIELD: Jordan Henderson, Eric Dier, Sam Clucas

Jordan Henderson is easily England's best statistical centre-midfielder, followed by Eric Dier.

Sam Clucas takes the third spot, which is perhaps the biggest shock of the 23-man list.

Jack Wilshere narrowly misses out, closely followed by Jake Livermore and Mark Noble.

Surprisingly, Jonjo Shelvey should be no-where near the team based off stats.

ATTACKING-MIDFIELDERS: Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli

No surprises here. Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli are widely expected to make the 23, and they top the statistics table for English attacking midfielders.

RIGHT WINGERS: Raheem Sterling, Theo Walcott

Raheem Sterling easily tops the list of right-wingers, with Theo Walcott finishing second.

Despite his stats, Walcott has little to no chance of making the plane.

LEFT WINGERS: Marcus Rashford, Marc Albrighton

On the left side of attack, Marcus Rashford is joined by Marc Albrighton.

Like Walcott, Albrighton is very unlikely to make the plane.

STRIKERS: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Callum Wilson

The first two spots up-front were always going to be occupied by Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy, but who, if anyone, will go as the third striker?

Although some are calling for Glenn Murray to get his chance, Bwin think that Callum Wilson will be given the nod.

Murray, Dwight Gayle and Danny Welbeck all narrowly miss out.

THE STARTING XI:

Would you be happy with this team? Have your say by leaving a comment below.