Thomas Tuchel is reportedly set to drop Kyle Walker straight back into the starting XI for tonight’s World Cup qualifier against Albania. The German is gearing up for his first match in charge of England after taking over from Gareth Southgate.
It’s 58 years since England tasted success on the international stage, with Tuchel having been parachuted in to try and get the Three Lions over the line. They’ve been dealt a favourable qualifying group, with Latvia, Serbia and Andorra joining themselves and Albania in Group K.
It all starts tonight against Albania, but according to reports, Tuchel is being tipped to go with a surprise defensive set-up for their Wembley opener. Walker is in line to start for the hosts with what will be his 94th appearance for England.
It’s also claimed that Tuchel is expected to start with a back four, as opposed to the back three that had earned him success at club level with Chelsea. As such, the door has opened to the likes of Ezri Konsa and Dan Burn to start at centre-back, with Marc Guehi being spoken about as a possible absence for England’s World Cup qualifying opener.
Guehi played every minute of England’s run to the Euro 2024 final last summer but could be forced to start the qualifying campaign on the bench. Alongside the Crystal Palace man, Levi Colwill is another England ace reportedly set to miss out.
It comes after Tuchel took the decision to leave Aaron Ramsdale, Jarell Quansah and Morgan Gibbs-White – a player who was only called up following Cole Palmer’s withdrawal – out of the 23-man matchday squad altogether. It’s been a week of pulling no punches for the ex-Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund boss, who has already outlined how he expects his England side to approach matches.
Speaking ahead of this evening’s encounter, he stated: “We will inject a little bit of club football into federation football. The Premier League is a very physical league, a very direct league. We should be proud enough of the culture and the style of English football and the English league to implement this.
“We have to increase the intensity in our games. I want to have more touches in the opponent’s box. I want to have more ball recoveries in the opponent’s half.”
Kick-off from Wembley is pencilled in for 7:45pm. Following the Albania contest, England will return to Wembley for a clash against Latvia on Tuesday.
