Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson is reportedly set to make his England debut in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier at Villa Park.
The midfielder received his first senior call-up by Thomas Tuchel last week after impressing for Forest last season and at the start of the current campaign.
He is now in line to be thrown straight into England’s XI against the minnows, the BBC report, with the midfielder set to play alongside Declan Rice in midfield.
Eberechi Eze is also poised for a start following his £60million move to Arsenal from Crystal Palace, with former Eagles team-mate Marc Guehi set to partner Dan Burn in defence.
The report also indicates starts for Reece James and Myles Lewis-Skelly at full-back, with Noni Madueke and Marcus Rashford playing either side of Harry Kane in attack.
England have won all three of their World Cup Group K qualifiers so far but most recently lost to Senegal 3-1 in a friendly in June.
Tuchel still searching for England midfield pairing
News of Anderson’s start comes after Tuchel admitted he was still searchin for the right midfield pairing ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Jordan Henderson, Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher and Curtis Jones have all partnered Rice in midfield under Tuchel so far, with the German recently admitting they have no natural No6 available.
Anderson, Rice, Henderson and Adam Wharton were the midfielders selected for games against Andorra and Serbia, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek being drafted in to replace Wharton after injury.
Tuchel has even said that centre-back John Stones, who has also had to withdraw through injury, is an option to play in midfield.
He said: “At the moment the four players are competing in central midfield, Jordan [Henderson], Declan [Rice], Elliot [Anderson] and Ruben [Loftus-Cheek]. They are all very mobile players.
“There is not one pivotal, classic, deep number six. Except maybe John Stones, who fits this characteristic. But he left this morning.
“The strength of our players is to be mobile, and in modern-day football that is more of an advantage than a disadvantage. We have our ideas of how we will set up and you will hopefully see some glimpses of it tomorrow and against Serbia, and from there we will go.
“We have top players and we will find the right pairing. We have to be flexible because anything can happen, someone can be injured and it is not the moment to make a final decision for the World Cup.”
