England’s final competitive match at Wembley before next summer’s World Cup has arrived, and plenty of players will be desperate to impress Thomas Tuchel as they host Serbia tonight.
There is an element of the unknown about Serbia. Though England thrashed them 5-0 in a critical Belgrade qualifier in September, tonight’s return leg is Veljko Paunović’s first game in charge as the new head coach. With qualification still on the line for the Serbians, Tuchel has described the game as “a final” for them.
For England, by contrast, it is a case of keeping the intensity up despite having already secured qualification last month.
While Tuchel is not expected to experiment heavily, he will have to make changes. Here, Standard Sport takes a look at three players who must grasp their chance to impress.
Jude Bellingham
Bellingham’s return to the England fold was the big news when Tuchel announced his squad last Friday, with the Real Madrid star one of the country’s few undeniably world-class players. He was absent in September while recovering from shoulder surgery, and again last month.
Yet for all his supreme talent, Bellingham must show Tuchel against Serbia and then Albania on Sunday that he fits into his 4-2-3-1 system and can play the No10 role effectively enough to become first-choice there.
After all, Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze and potentially Phil Foden are all pushing for the same position, with Morgan Gibbs-White and the injured Cole Palmer not in this squad but waiting in the wings.
Rogers appears to be in possession of the shirt right now after demonstrating his positional discipline over the past two camps. Either from the start or from the bench, Bellingham must ensure he presses his case to swoop back in and reclaim his place.
Phil Foden
Tuchel said last week that using the Manchester City man as a No9-10 hybrid is a “fantasy” he has had for a “long time”.
That said, Foden is effectively on trial with England. Pep Guardiola insists he is one of the most talented players he has ever coached, and yet Foden has never hit the heights with England. In 45 caps, he has scored a measly four goals.
The 25-year-old was shoehorned into the team at Euro 2024 as Gareth Southgate used him as a left winger, but Tuchel has ruled that out and said on Wednesday that Bellingham, Foden and captain Harry Kane cannot all start for his team in his system.
Foden will be trialled as a false nine at some point in these two games and it may be that Tuchel sees him more as a Kane back-up than a true No10 now. The No10 role feels more a straight shoot-out between Bellingham and Rogers.
Wherever he is deployed, Foden must be effective and turn on the style.
Djed Spence
Left-back is England’s most up-in-the-air position seven months out from the World Cup kicking off.
With Tuchel yet to select Southgate favourite Luke Shaw, the position appears to be a contest between Tottenham’s Spence, Newcastle’s Tino Livramento, Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly and Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Lewis-Skelly has been told he must play more regularly to force his way back in, and Livramento remains out with a knee injury.
As O’Reilly, 20, goes from strength to strength under Guardiola and awaits his senior England debut, Spence must grasp the opportunity ahead after impressing against Wales and Latvia last month.
His ability to play right-back is an added string to his bow — and versatility is a valuable asset come tournament time — but it is on the left that Tuchel is most in need of a clear first-choice solution. Starring over the coming week would put Spence in a very healthy position.
