Thomas Tuchel is set to name a strong starting lineup for England’s penultimate World Cup qualifier against Serbia on Thursday, with Morgan Rogers retaining the No 10 position.
Jude Bellingham is expected to be among the substitutes for the fixture at Wembley following his return to the squad for November’s fixtures.
England confirmed their qualification for the 2026 World Cup in October with a 5-0 win over Latvia, but Tuchel explained during Wednesday’s pre-match press conference that he will not be experimenting with his side for this month’s matches against Serbia and Albania.
Villa midfielder Rogers started in the No 10 role during October’s win over Latvia and friendly against Wales, plus September’s victory over Serbia. The 23-year-old has provided a goal and three assists in 16 appearances for Villa this season and signed a new contract with the club this month.
Bellingham has frequently been used in the No 10 position for England, in addition to in a deeper lying midfield role. He was not included in October’s squad, with Tuchel citing the midfielder’s need to get his “rhythm” back for Real Madrid having missed the opening months of the season following shoulder surgery.
Speaking on Wednesday, Tuchel said Rogers and Bellingham were both competing for the No 10 role in his side, explaining he believed it was preferable to play players in their strongest position as opposed to fielding them out of position in an attempt to fit all of his strongest squad members into the starting XI.
“Rather than finding the best players a position to just have them on the field, it’s maybe better to put everyone in their best position and have a competition. At the moment, the competition is between the two of them,” Tuchel said.
He added: “They are friends so it can also be a friendly competition. They don’t have to be enemies. They don’t have to hate each other. They are respectful. They are friends with each other and they fight at the moment for the same position.
“Can they play together? Yes, but in a different structure and at the moment it’s not the moment to change our structure.”
Tuchel also explained Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane would not all be able to play together in England’s current structure.
“At the moment, if we keep the structure, they cannot play,” Tuchel told TalkSport, when asked about the three players starting together. “They can, but not in the structure. Not for the balance that we developed, and not for structure that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We play at the moment with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine.”
England’s matchday squad for Thursday’s match has already been confirmed, with Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott missing out on a place in the 23 and Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi also not included, having missed the weekend’s draw with Brighton & Hove Albion through a foot injury.