Evening Standard
·10 September 2024
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Yahoo sportsEvening Standard
·10 September 2024
England captain to make landmark appearance at Wembley
Harry Kane will be handed his 100th cap as England face Finland at Wembley tonight, with Lee Carsley set to make few changes to the side that eased past Ireland.
The 31-year-old Bayern Munich striker will captain his country to make it a century of international caps, having made his debut in March 2015 against Lithuania, also at Wembley.
The England captain became his nation’s all-time leading goalscorer last year and has 66 goals in 99 caps for the Three Lions.
Interim manager Carsley is going to resist making wholesale changes to his starting lineup from the side which beat Ireland 2-0 in Dublin on Saturday in England’s opening fixture in Nations League Group B2.
The expected changes will likely come in defence, with Rico Lewis, John Stones and Ezri Konsa coming in for Levi Colwill, Marc Guehi and Harry Maguire. Angel Gomes is also set to come into the side to partner Declan Rice in midfield.
There are no fresh injury concerns, with all players fit and available for the visit of Finland. All 23 trained at Tottenham’s training ground on Monday morning.
Chelsea winger Noni Madueke and Newcastle full-back Tino Livramento would be making their senior international debuts if either feature on Tuesday, while Morgan Gibbs-White will be hoping for a second cap after representing England for the first time in Dublin.
Speaking on Monday, Carsley said: “We’ll make two or three changes, freshen the team up a bit. I’m looking forward to the game. If you make 11 changes, it maybe sends out the wrong signal. I don’t see wholesale changes.
“Some players are still in that pre-season phase given their time off over the summer, so we have to manage that.
“They’ve all got a chance of playing. We’ve been very fortunate this week. There’s no one that can’t play a full 90 minutes.”
Predicted England XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Konsa, Lewis; Rice, Gomes; Saka, Grealish, Gordon; Kane
Doubts: None
Time and date: 7:45pm, Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Venue: Wembley Stadium