Albania v England: Predicted starting XI for Three Lions as Thomas Tuchel eyes flawless World Cup qualifying record
England have already secured World Cup qualification - and now have a victory lap against Albania this weekend.
The Three Lions have topped group K in the qualifiers and not even conceded a single goal on their road to next year’s tournament.
Having got his team tickets to North America, manager Thomas Tuchel now has two choices ahead of this weekend’s trip to Albania - either rotate his squad to rest England’s best players and give other players a run-out, or stack his team with talent to end their flawless run with a bang.
Victory over Serbia on Thursday (November 14) saw the likes of Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze find the scoresheet, making it seven wins from seven Group K games.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of this weekend’s clash with Albania, Tuchel said: “I’m very happy with the attitude again of the team - I don’t see any change of attitude in training because the game doesn’t mean anything, or is a dead rubber as you call it, or is a friendly.
“We just keep on going and keep on going and the team is desperate to have this, to shape their identity. I think this is the only thing that we can do because then we feel good.
“Today we are tired but they know what they did and they get the praise also for it, to have another clean sheet, and they felt that it was a complicated, intense match for us, which is good.
“I’m pretty sure we will be ready, and the team will have the right spirit, to do it hopefully again in Albania, with all the respect. It will be not easy and from there we go.”
So how will England line up in their final World Cup group match? Here’s our predictions for the starting XI, assuming Tuchel plays a 4-2-3-1 as usual.
GK: Jordan Pickford
RB: Reece James
CB: Trevoh Chalobah
CB: Dan Burn
LB: Djed Spence
CDM: Alex Scott
CDM: Declan Rice
RM: Jarrod Bowen
LM: Marcus Rashford
CAM: Jude Bellingham
ST: Harry Kane