England v Wales preview
England continue their preparation for the World Cup tomorrow when Wales are the visitors to a sold-out Wembley. It promises to be a fiery affair with the visitors bringing a large travelling contingent to north-west London.
But while national pride will be at stake, the real purpose is to fine-tune the teams for the infinitely more important World Cup qualifiers next week.
England visit Latvia knowing a win could secure their place in the United States, Canada and Mexico while Wales host Belgium in a game that is crucial to the outcome of Group J. Wales are currently third behind North Macedonia and the Belgians but with both teams due to visit the Principality, either side of a trip to minnows Liechtenstein, the opportunity for Wales to qualify is very much alive.
For England, the equation is more simple after five wins from five without conceding a goal.
Thomas Tuchel’s team will reach the World Cup if they claim three points in Latvia, and Serbia do not win both of their matches against Albania and Andorra. A draw would be enough for the Three Lions, should Serbia draw with Albania and then fail to defeat Andorra.
Therefore, this is a potentially tricky fixture for Tuchel and Welsh counterpart Craig Bellamy to navigate. Neither will want to cede ground to their near-neighbours yet neither will want to take risks with personnel ahead of next week.
The situation is slightly easier for England given their position of strength in qualifying and their stronger pool of resources from which to choose from.
Even Bellamy admits he is slightly envious of the players Tuchel has at his disposal. The former Newcastle striker said: “England have a ridiculous squad, like France.
“They have a transfer market value of £1.4bn, ours is £170m. If you were a boxing promoter, you wouldn’t put us together. It wouldn’t be allowed.
“The simple fact is they don’t just have one team. They have two, three, four and France and others have the same level. England have loads of great players and that’s the honest truth.
“One right-back went out injured the other day and there’s only 24 more to go! They’ve got 60-odd players. I’d love us to be stacked like them.”
While England may be “stacked” that does lead to endless debate about squad selections. For this doubleheader Tuchel opted to leave out fit-again Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Adam Wharton and Jack Grealish.
Included were the likes of Dan Burn, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jordan Henderson and the out-of-form Aston Villa winger Morgan Rogers.
Team News for England v Wales
Harry Kane is a doubt due to an ankle injury sustained playing for Bayern Munich against Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend. Ollie Watkins could get the nod to replace the Three Lions skipper. Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarrell Quansah also missed group training today.
Reece James pulled out of the squad earlier this week and was replaced by Manchester City’s uncapped utility man Nico O’Reilly.
Wales will be without Aaron Ramsey and Dan James due to injury. Cardiff City duo Isaak Davies and Rubin Colwill have been drafted into the squad.
Predicted line-ups for England v Wales
England: Pickford; Spence, Stones, Guehi, Lewis-Skelly; Anderson, Rice; Saka, Rogers, Rashford; Watkins
Wales: A Davies; Kpakio, Cabango, B Davies, Dasilva; Sheehan, J James; Koumas, Wilson, Brooks; Moore
How to watch England v Wales: TV and online streams
England versus Wales kicks off tomorrow night at 7.45pm UK time. You can watch it on ITV1 and stream it via the ITVX app.
Stats for England v Wales
- England have won their last seven meetings against Wales by an aggregate score of 14-1
- They last met at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with England running out 3-0 winners
- England have won nine of their last 11 competitive fixtures by at least two goals
Prediction for England v Wales
They will bring the fire but it’s questionable whether Wales have the quality to trouble England, particularly if Bellamy keeps his key players fit for the Belgium game.
Prediction: England 3-0 Wales
