Preview: England go to Albania for final World Cup qualifier
England go chasing a perfect eight from eight in World Cup qualifying with their last game a trip to Albania – themselves guaranteed runners-up. A dead rubber, or a vital chance for some squad members?
By Karl Matchett
How many spots does Tuchel have to fill?
It’s not just eight wins from eight that the Three Lions will want at this stage, but also a remarkable eight clean sheets. That kind of record would naturally spur hopes going into the tournament next summer, but would also be vindication for Thomas Tuchel’s selection process which has seen some big names left out at times, familiar faces overlooked and a few new faces called into the mix.
Forget the wider squad for a moment, what about the starting XI? With one cap to his name, Nico O’Reilly might well have locked down left-back. But further forward? Jude Bellingham will surely get more starts, and left wing can’t be sealed down just now either. Beyond that there might be little more to decide. Dan Burn, Djed Spence, Adam Wharton and Jarrod Bowen face fights just for squad spots and will hope to show what they can do.
Prep mode for potential first-ever World Cup
As for Albania, they sealed their immediate fate with a narrow win over Andorra – they will finish second in Group K and head into the playoffs. It means that for them, while this fixture in isolation won’t change anything in the table, it does bring an opportunity to practice the defensive resilience and ability to have spells of creating chances that they will need during potentially tough matches during the playoff paths. Albania have played at the European Championship twice, but they’ve never been to a World Cup. This qualifying campaign is already a national record as they’d never even finished runner-up in qualifying before, but taking the final step would be historic.
Recent form
The hosts could hardly be in better shape – it’s five straight wins for Albania and eight in a row unbeaten. Their last defeat was, of course, against England in March. Over the past year, England themselves have played 11, won ten – a 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal the only blemish on the record. Since then it’s five in a row without conceding a goal.
Team news
At the time of writing, Marc Guéhi needs a fitness check and Anthony Gordon withdrew from the squad so won’t play a part but the wider question is over how many of the aforementioned non-starters from midweek against Serbia get their opportunity to feature here. Three players in the squad are awaiting their first-ever senior cap, with new midfield inclusion Alex Scott perhaps most likely to get his chance.
Key player
Probably Phil Foden, given there’s most variance to his inclusion: After failing to shine out wide and with so much competition at No.10, is he actually Tuchel’s best alternative to Harry Kane? Get runners around him and it could work – Foden ranks higher than 94% of attacking midfielders around Europe for chance creation.
Prediction
A perfect record for the Three Lions in qualifying to be kept intact with another win. Despite the irrelevance of it points-wise, it might actually turn out to be one of the more impressive ones if they manage it, precisely because of those low stakes: Albania 0-2 England.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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