Carsley ‘prepares multiple changes’ with Man City duo ‘set to start’ for England v Finland
Lee Carsley is expected to make several changes for England’s Nations League match against Finland on Tuesday evening.
Carsley’s first match as interim manager went very well, beating the Republic of Ireland 2-0 in Dublin thanks to goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish.
England are back at Wembley on Tuesday when they host Finland and it is very difficult to predict the starting XI.
A report from the Daily Mail gives us a good indication of what to expect, with Manchester City full-back Rico Lewis ‘set to start’ after a great start to the season with his club.
It is stated that Carsley is ‘preparing to make multiple changes’ with Lewis expected to come in for Chelsea’s Levi Colwill.
After Marc Guehi and Harry Maguire started at centre-back against Ireland, John Stones is expected to partner Ezri Konsa at Wembley.
Not only is Carsley looking to give different players a chance to impress, but he has to manage their fitness with the Premier League back this weekend.
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“We have to be realistic that the players that didn’t have a lot of time off in the summer, came back having maybe not played as many minutes, to expect them just to go into, especially, a game in Dublin at the tempo that we thought it would be and the physicality,” he said.
“I didn’t want to put them in a position where if they didn’t do well, you could almost see what they didn’t do well.
“It just gave us a chance to do a bit more work with them during the week and then put them in a position… and there’s maybe four or five that needed that extra work and that extra day’s training which will hopefully help them.”
The only changes we are aware of courtesy of this report is in defence, though the X post from Daily Mail journalist linking to the article stated that Angel Gomes is one of the ‘considered changes’.
Gomes could start as a No. 6 to give Declan Rice the freedom to maraud forward. The Arsenal midfielder is suspended for his club’s next match so is not an urgent fitness concern for Carsley.
Whether it is from the start or off the bench, Harry Kane – who actually has zero goals for England – is expected to feature as he prepares to win his 100th cap.
Asked whether he would be following up his landmark appearance by targeting a century of goals for his country, Kane said: “Yeah. What is it, 34 goals (to go)?
“One hundred caps have come round so quick, especially the last few years playing three major tournaments in such a short space of time. In those years I’ve done around 15, 16, 17 caps a year whereas a normal year would be 10.
“The goals were similar. I felt I was on 30 goals and then I went to 50 and then 60. It is definitely there and definitely possible. I feel like I am in a good place and these are good targets to try to reach.
“Some people may see them as unrealistic but I would rather go for something unrealistic and not quite make it rather than be comfortable just saying I will be happy with 70 or 80 goals.”
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