Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Marcus Rashford have fun as Thomas Tuchel’s England train ahead of their friendly against Wales tomorrow night.

England predicted line-up vs. Wales: eight changes made as Arsenal & Man City stars get chance to start

The latest England team news and predicted line-up ahead of the friendly match against rivals Wales

England will be hoping to pick up where they left off against Serbia when they face neighbours and rivals Wales at Wembley on Thursday evening – but manager Thomas Tuchel will be forced to make at least three changes from the team which won 5-0 in Belgrade last month.

Injuries mean that Tino Livramento, Reece James and Noni Madueke, all of whom started in Serbia, are absent from the squad for the latest international break, while Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold are among other players who missed out due to fitness problems.

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We’ve got all the latest team news and fitness updates below ahead of England’s first match of the October international break, as well as our prediction for Tuchel’s likely starting line-up.

Bukayo Saka in line for start for England as key attacking players miss out

As well as Palmer, Madueke and Bellingham, who has only started one match for Real Madrid since returning from a shoulder injury in September, Tuchel also chose not to call up Phil Foden or Jack Grealish, meaning that a number of familiar faces are missing from the Three Lions squad ahead of Thursday’s match.

In their place, Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford will compete for the left-wing role, either Morgan Rogers or Eberechi Eze are likely to get the nod at number ten, and the returning Bukayo Saka, who missed out in September due to a hamstring injury, may start ahead of Jarrod Bowen on the right. Captain Harry Kane will likely continue up front with the out-of-form Ollie Watkins the only other recognised striker in Tuchel’s

In midfield, Tuchel may use the non-competitive nature of the match to offer Jordan Henderson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Elliot Anderson opportunities to further their claims for a place in the 2026 World Cup squad, with Declan Rice likely to be rested ahead of the qualifying game against Latvia on Tuesday.

John Stones could start as Nico O’Reilly hopes to make debut against Wales

Dean Henderson may get the nod to start in goal for Thursday’s friendly ahead of number one Jordan Pickford, but Tuchel has a few selection headaches in defence due to the injuries sustained by Livramento and James.

Options at left-back include Myles Lewis-Skelly, who has lost his place in Arsenal’s starting line-up, potential debutant Nico O’Reilly who was a late call-up as a replacement for James, and Tottenham Hotspur full-back Djed Spence, who made his England debut as a substitute last month.

Spence is also one of only two obvious options at right-back, along with Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa, while the returning John Stones – who has not yet played for England under Tuchel – could get the chance to impress alongside either Marc Guéhi, Dan Burn or Bayer Leverkusen’s Jarell Quansah, another potential debutant. Recent selections suggest that Guéhi and Burn will start against Latvia, with Konsa perhaps likely to get the nod on the right, which could influence Tuchel’s selection against Wales.

Full England predicted line-up vs. Wales: Henderson; Lewis-Skelly, Guéhi, Stones, Spence; Henderson, Anderson; Rashford, Eze, Saka; Kane.