England interim manager Lee Carsley makes six changes to his starting lineup for their UEFA Nations League clash with Finland.
England interim manager Lee Carsley has made six changes to his starting lineup for the Three Lions’ UEFA Nations League clash with Finland in League B Group 2.
The visitors to Helsinki are under immense pressure to respond to Thursday’s shock 2-1 loss at the hands of Greece at Wembley, and Carsley has changed over half of the team from that embarrassing defeat.
A handful of those alterations come in attack, where skipper Harry Kane has been passed fit to lead the line after missing the loss to Greece with the knock he sustained while playing for Bayern Munich last weekend.
Kane’s return to the starting XI ends Carsley’s brief experiment of going without a tried and tested number nine, and Jack Grealish has also been given the green light to play after also sitting out the midweek defeat.
Kane and Grealish take the places of Anthony Gordon and Phil Foden in the England attack, where Jude Bellingham will seemingly operate in the number 10 position, with Cole Palmer filling in for the injured Bukayo Saka on the right.
Saka’s absence also means that Angel Gomes has been promoted to the starting lineup and will most likely start alongside Declan Rice in the double pivot, and there is a first-time starter for the Three Lions in defence.
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Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson will make his full debut for the Three Lions on Sunday, 1,431 days on from his first appearance off the bench against the Republic of Ireland in November 2020, where he replaced Nick Pope in the second half.
Henderson will be barking orders at a defensive shield boasting two reintroduced players, as Kyle Walker will start on the right-hand side of defence, and Marc Guehi has also come back in.
Interestingly, Trent Alexander-Arnold looks set to start at left-back for England, as Walker demotes Manchester City teammate Rico Lewis to the bench, and Guehi replaces Levi Colwill alongside John Stones.
Finland boss Markku Kanerva has also rotated his side for the visit of England, making five changes in total, although former Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki has to accept a place on the bench again.
England occupy second place in the League B Group 2 standings ahead of Sunday evening’s fixture, while Finland sit rock bottom without a point on the board from their first three matches.
England starting lineup: Henderson; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Alexander-Arnold; Rice, Gomes; Palmer, Bellingham, Grealish; Kane
Subs: Pickford, Pope, Lewis, Foden, Gordon, Gallagher, Colwill, Livramento, Watkins, Solanke, Madueke
Finland starting lineup: Hradecky; Alho, Hoskonen, Ivanov, Uronen; Schuller, Peltola; Jensen, Kamara, Keskinen; Kallman
Subs: Joronen, Sinisalo, Galvez, Antman, Lod, Pukki, Stahl, Pikkarainen, Tenho, Nissila, Pohjanpalo, Walta
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