England have their next 2026 World Cup qualifying fixture coming up in Latvia next Tuesday, but before that Thomas Tuchel’s team warm up with an international friendly against Wales at Wembley.
The match kicks off at 7.45pm on Thursday, October 9th, and will be shown on ITV1, S4C and BBC iPlayer.
The Three Lions impressed in their last outing when they cruised to a 5-0 win in Serbia but the England manager has raised eyebrows with his squad selection by leaving out some established names.
England Predicted XI vs Wales
Predicted England line-up (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Spence, Konsa, Guehi, Lewis-Skelly; Anderson, Rice; Bowen, Rogers, Rashford; Kane.
Tuchel has to find the balance between preparing his team for the competitive game ahead while also taking the opportunity to take a look at some of the new faces in his squad in a match environment.
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England Team News vs Wales
England regulars Jude Bellingham, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Adam Wharton were all noticeable absentees when Tuchel named his squad for the matches against Wales and Latvia.
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is back in the squad after missing the games against Andorra and Serbia due to injury, while Tino Livramento and Noni Madueke are both unavailable due to knee injuries. Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold are also out.
Madueke’s club team-mate Declan Rice gave his manager a scare when going off with a back injury against West Ham at the weekend, but he was able to train without any problems on Monday so should be able to start against Wales.
A further change was required on Monday when Chelsea captain Reece James withdrew from the squad due to a cut on his right leg that he sustained in the Premier League win over Liverpool.
James has been replaced in the squad by Manchester City youngster Nico O’Reilly, who had been in the Under-21 squad. The 20-year-old has made nine appearances for the Citizens this season.
Djed Spence, Elliot Anderson and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all held on to their places after featuring in the last international meet-up.
England captain Harry Kane has been in sensational form with 12 goals in his last six club matches for Bayern Munich and he will be targeting a 75th England goal as he collects his 110th cap.
Tuchel happy with approach to squad selection
Tuchel defended his decision to leave Real Madrid star Bellingham out of his latest squad.
The 22-year-old was named England men’s player of the year last season after scoring crucial goals against Serbia and Slovakia in the Euro 2024 finals, but he has yet to open his account in five appearances for Madrid this season.
Bellingham recently had surgery on a shoulder injury and Tuchel said that was the main reason for his omission.
“First of all, Jude is a very special player. He deserves to always be in camp. The situation is he has not gathered full rhythm.”
“He hasn’t finished one full match and has only started one match. He wanted to be called up. We had a phone call but we stayed with our decision.”
“Do I believe we’re a stronger team with Jude? Yes. Is he one of the best players in the world in midfield? Yes.
“But what are we doing if a player like Jude is injured before the World Cup? Do we not travel? This is a team sport. We have to find solutions if players are injured, like now Cole Palmer, ” said Tuchel.
